Wow!  Your best work to date!   The subtle high/low lights in the grays really give it some depth!

Not really unfortunately.  I've already did a bunch of tests with HHVM and the overhead is way too big with all the threads running.

I made some great progress on the API tonight though, and should be finished with the internal API within a day so progress is picking back up

3-24-14

Checking in to the thread.  I had a very busy weekend and had to work 12 hours shifts all weekend, so I've been a little scarce for the last few days.

Effort right now is being put into the internal API system.  For security reasons, the website its self will not have access to the database.  Instead, it will communicate with a backend server (which is completely isolated from the Internet on a VPC) via a secure internal API that has strict control over what kind of information the web server has access to.  I'ts going to eat up some development time in other areas, but it's important to have the security portions done correctly right from the beginning to ensure the security of user data.

Another area I have been poking around with is the User Interface.  Right now I'm torn between using standard tools like JQuery and JQWidgets (I hate programming in Javascript, so using these would mean hiring out for more work to be done on the interface), and between using a completely custom UI (meaning that the UI is a custom program with all components rendered on a canvas, including text boxes and other standard UI items - more so like a video game).  There are pros and cons to each.  Here is a quick list of the pros and cons of both.

JQuery/JQWidgets

PRO	CON
Industry standard libraries many programmers available to hire Very fast and attractive interface Skinnable via CSS	Standard HTML UI elements are a security risk Javascript is not my strong point, I would hire out Bugs in JQuery/JQWidgets would be out of my control

Custom UI

PRO	CON
Full control over features and appearance I can use a language I'm very fluent in Skinnable via custom graphic files I could use the same base for web via HTML5 and/or Flash, iPhone, Android and desktop UI options Super high security	Would likely take a little more time Not likely to be as fast as standard UI components, as each one is rendered as a graphic (20 FPS target) Not industry standard

So as you can see, weighing these two options is not very easy.  I want to take the project in the right direction so I need to be sure that I make the right choice.  Throughout the week I'll be experimenting with a little of both to help in the decision making (and any feedback from the community considered as well)

Lastly, I know it's a bit early but I've been doing some experiments with porting the framework over to compiled C++, which is not only way faster than interpreted PHP, but will also lower costs in the long run due to being lighter on provisional resources.  This is a very long term thing though, I would finish the framework in PHP first and start serious work on the port only after Rollerbot is up and running (think of it as the "next generation" product).


That's about it for now.  Just wanted to give an update on where things are.  I should be able to put a good dent into the internal API and user registration/login system this week!

3-19-2014

Nothing too big to report.  Most of my time has revolved around getting the web server set up so that I can get the interface back up and running, then improve on it.  This is pretty important, as without this step I can't finish the front-end services (user plugins running, authenticated queries, etc)

Thanks again to all showing their support. Progress has been slower than expected, but things are still progressing

3-17-2014

Today I sent emails out to Cryptsy, Btc-e, Bter, Coinex, Coins-e, Crypto-Trade, Vircurex, Bittrex, AnxBTC/AnxPro, Bitstamp and Poloniex requesting that the Rollerbot IP address be whitelisted.  This should help avoid interruptions in service in the future, as well as make them aware of why this IP address sends so many requests.

I will update the thread with the status of these requests.

[Edit] Heard back from ANX (AnxBTC and AnxPro).  They have accepted the whitelist request.
[Edit] Heard back from Bittrex.  They have accepted the whitelist request

3-16-2014

The backend services are pretty much complete, leaned out and optimized!
I'm not going to let too much out of the bag, but I'm currently load testing the daemon system and the results are simply blowing me away!

Currencies supported: 164
Markets being queried:729
API calls being cached: 1,948 @ 20 second refresh

There is still a ton of headroom left on the backend server, the database server and the redis cache also.  All of these small optimizations are really adding up!

Any info on when/ if Atomic-Trade will support a full trading api? 

3-15-14

Bittrex is fully verified and tested now, as is ANX (ANXBtc/ANXPro)
I've been working on the daemon system quite a bit to make it lighter on resources and give it more control over spawning and tracking threads.  The results are excellent.  In my load tests right now, 7 exchanges querying/caching all trade and depth data for every market in each of these exchanges is in the 35%-40% load range on the backend server (1077 API calls are being cached @ a 20 second refresh).  I still have some optimizations to make, but these results are beyond what I was expecting already.

I have about one more day of backend work to do, then I can concentrate on the website stuff.

Updated my signature with a BTC donation address.

Thanks for the suggestions guys

I've actually been asked about donations a few times now.  I honestly didn't think there would be anyone willing to donate..  I'll get a donation address set up for those interested and post back here.

Regarding infrastructure - I have found at least part-time help with this recently and it has been a tremendous help.  We're actually in talks about the legalities and specifics about retaining him - If we work something out I'll make an announcement.

Regarding other help, there may be a possibility to bring in some limited PHP help just for supporting new exchanges (writing the exchange class files, most of it would be copy and paste)- though to expose even this little bit of the source code to an individual would require some good references and standing in the community.

Another area of help would be someone fluent in the Chineese language (or any foreign language where exchange platforms exist) to help me get accounts set up at these exchanges and do some test trades etc.

Thanks for the great Ideas!

3-12-14 Swinging in for a quick update

Getting the infrastructure set up has turned out to be a much larger task than I expected.  Almost the entire last week has been spent testing configurations, running load tests, reconfiguring, testing again, etc.
I'm happy to say that I have finally found the mix of performance, redundancy and cost needed to efficiently and effectively run the platform.  I would even venture to say that I've spent more in server infrastructure so far in development than most (if not all) bots spend in a year.  I'm not quite sure anyone really understands the amount of power it takes to run such a large trading platform (currently 8 servers in total to get through development and alpha testing, and even more when it comes to full release).  I'm beginning to see why something of this scale has not been done yet!

With all that said, things are still moving forward, albeit a bit slower than I originally expected.  Due to costs, RollerBot will launch supporting 10 exchanges.  As a userbase builds, I'll be able to afford more infrastructure to enable support for even more exchanges (in blocks of 10, to keep costs reasonable).

I'll be able to get back into the programming that needs done over the next couple of days now that the final layout for the infrastructure is now set!

Killer day today
I did a lot of work tightening up the backend code.  The cache daemons are running fast and smooth, and the backend plugin system is fired back up (just storing trade data ATM)
Made some changes that reduces the number of MySql calls per second dramatically as well.  Letting it run all night to see how things do

Looking good

Any chance of a trade API soon?

Just wanted to drop in with some progress updates.

I didn't get as much done as I wanted to over the weekend.  Most time was spent on getting the rest of the infrastructure set up on AWS, which included making some important decisions that took some time to thoroughly evaluate.  I'm not going to release too many details, but as of right now RollerBot consists of 5 ec2 server instances (with more to come) and the important backend services are islanded and isolated from the Internet.  The only server attached to the Internet is the web server, which it's self doesn't even have database access.  Many steps have been taken and decisions made to ensure a secure platform.  Now with that out of the way, I can continue marching forward with the code.

Code-wise, I spent a lot of time yesterday cleaning out the source tree of old/antiquated files and making an effort to improve the documentation (through phpdoc). 
Today will be spend finishing off some of the backend services (daemon spawning and load balancing) and then working on some of the user services (private API call daemons, etc)

Thank you everyone for your continued interest and support.  Things are starting to get exciting as everything is slowly starting to pull together

3-8-2014

No code changes today.  All of today was spend in AWS with configuration.
I've recruited the help of an absolutely awesome system administrator to help guide RollerBot in the best direction possible when it comes to the underlying infrastructure.  Most of today was spent discussing future direction and getting things set up to provide the scalability and reliability needed for the trading platform.  A lot of discussion revolved around security and many things were put in place today to ensure a secure platform to build on.  I wish I could share more, but this is leading to the possibility of an exciting announcement in the near future.

I'll have more updates tomorrow

I've hear back from them once and sent another email.  So far they have been great to work with

Your work continues to impress Bitcrea, the Bitcoin community as a whole has gained a lot by having someone of your ability around here.  Your recent works are top-notch as always!

Today was a great day.  A lot of progress is being made on final decisions when it comes to the actual specifics behind RollerBot deployment.  I've brought aboard someone with extensive knowledge in system administration and deployment, especially when it comes to AWS.  This weekend will be a pivotal point for RollerBot as the full groundwork is put into place that will empower the scalable architecture that I dreamed for this platform.  There should be some exciting news in the coming weeks as things are nearing being ready for alpha testing.

Stay tuned

Today I'm mainly going to be working in Amazon AWS console getting things organized (VPC, elastic IP addresses, load balancers, etc), then work on the website starts.  I'll update the thread later with how things go.

Not a lot to report today

I'm still waiting to hear back from some of the exchanges in which I've identified bugs in their API (currently I've hear back from Bittrex with indication of a fix on the way, and ANX (anxbtc/anxpro) with interest in working on solutions).  Therefore there are no new significant changes for today.  I've also contacted some other potential industry partners in order to open clear lines of communication.

Tomorrow I will mostly work on web frontend stuff, and will report back here tomorrow with my progress