Introduction

MAF is a framework for building and deploying realtime applications.

By abstracting away common realtime primitives like connections, state, and channels, MAF makes creating applications a breeze.

Compared to frameworks like Firebase, Supabase, and Liveblocks, MAF takes a server-centric approach. Instead of writing client-side methods to mutate realtime data, apps made with MAF are governed by a server that authorizes mutations.

MAF is a Framework

MAF is not just a library; it is a set of tools and libraries that work together to create a full-stack development experience. The tools and libraries mentioned throughout the documentation are:

1. Server libraries, which are libraries that are used on a server to handle server-side logic: listening for connections, storing state, handling client requests, etc.
2. Client libraries, which are libraries that are used on a client to handle client-side logic: connecting to a MAF server, subscribing to state, sending requests, etc.
3. The MAF CLI, which is a command-line interface that helps you setup, develop, and deploy MAF applications.

To create a MAF application, you will need to use both server and client libraries along with the MAF CLI.

For instance, if you want to create a realtime chat website, you could use a Rust server library to handle sending messages and a JavaScript client library to handle displaying messages in the browser. The MAF CLI would help you set up the project, run a development server, and deploy the application.

Next Steps

• Quickstart
• Examples
• Why MAF?