#16 support node.js as alternative to PHP

[Daniel Howard]

node.js makes a server scale much better for an IM application. It would be nice to provide a node.js alternative to people who want it. I really want node.js as an option, not a requirement, because a PHP only solution is very convenient and easy for lots of people.

Phase 1: It seems that the ping() function in system.js and ajax_act.php is the primary bottleneck. In PHP, ping() polls so it is constantly hitting the server. A first phase of using node.js might be to implement the ping() function in node.js (instead of ajax_act.php) and fix up ping() in system.js to talk to it. That should provide a lot more scale with little effort.

Phase 2: Eventually, ajax_act.php could be implemented entirely in node.js. ajax_act.php is 59 functions in 2180 lines right now which isn't too bad. A lot of the logic should be reusable.