Modern web application architectures typically run each layer in its own process, like a NodeJS server and database both running in their own processes. They communicate via a network connection or localhost socket. This separation introduces protocol overheads, TCP stack latency, and data serialization/deserialization costs on every single query.
Planck is designed around the concept of Zero-Distance Architecture that co-locates data and application code. It combines the database engine and a WebAssembly application runtime into a single, unified process. By running your application code directly inside the database process, database calls become direct in-memory function calls rather than network round-trips.
This article provides a practical guide to getting started with Planck. We will look at the core toolchain, walk through setting up a self-contained local benchmark, compare its performance against a NodeJS, ExpressJS, MongoDB stack, and look at how to build more complex features.
The Toolchain: Planck, planctl, and Workbench
Running and managing a zero-distance app requires three main components.
