IPC Framework - Inter-Process Communication

Efficient Inter-Process Communication Framework for Python ↔ Node.js backend integration. This is the Python server package that enables seamless bidirectional communication with Node.js applications using TCP sockets.

🐍 Python Server Package

This package provides the Python IPC server for communication with Node.js clients.

✅ Production Ready Features:

• ✅ TCP socket server (high-performance, low-latency)
• ✅ Hierarchical application and channel management
• ✅ Request/response and publish/subscribe patterns
• ✅ Connection pooling and auto-reconnection support
• ✅ Thread-safe operation with robust error handling

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Install Python IPC server
pip install ipc-framework

# Install Node.js client (separate package)
npm install @ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs

Python Server Usage

from ipc_framework import FrameworkServer, MessageType
import time

# Create server
server = FrameworkServer(host="localhost", port=8888)

# Create application and channel
app = server.create_application("my_app", "My Application")
api_channel = app.create_channel("api")

# Handle requests from Node.js clients
def handle_request(message):
    action = message.payload.get('action')
    
    if action == 'get_data':
        response = message.create_response({
            'success': True,
            'data': {'timestamp': time.time(), 'message': 'Hello from Python!'},
            'server': 'Python IPC Framework'
        })
        
        connection = server.connection_manager.get_connection(
            message.payload.get('connection_id')
        )
        server.send_to_connection(connection, response)

api_channel.set_handler(MessageType.REQUEST, handle_request)

print("🐍 Python IPC Server starting on localhost:8888")
server.start()

Node.js Client Usage

const { IPCClient } = require('@ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs');

async function main() {
    const client = new IPCClient('my_app', {
        host: 'localhost',
        port: 8888
    });

    try {
        await client.connect();
        console.log('✅ Connected to Python server!');

        const response = await client.sendRequest('api', {
            action: 'get_data'
        });

        console.log('📨 Response from Python:', response.payload);
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('❌ Error:', error.message);
    } finally {
        client.disconnect();
    }
}

main();

🎯 Architecture Features

✅ Production-Ready Server:

• High-performance TCP sockets for low-latency communication
• Hierarchical structure with applications and channels
• Message routing and automatic connection management
• Thread-safe operations with robust error handling

✅ Communication Patterns:

• Request/Response - Direct client-server communication
• Publish/Subscribe - Real-time notifications and broadcasts
• Channel-based routing - Organized message handling
• Connection pooling - Efficient resource management

🏗️ Integration with Node.js

This Python server works seamlessly with Node.js applications. Here's how to connect an Express.js app:

Node.js Express.js Integration:

const express = require('express');
const { IPCClient } = require('@ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs');

const app = express();
const pythonClient = new IPCClient('web_api');

app.use(express.json());

// Initialize connection to Python IPC server
pythonClient.connect().then(() => {
    console.log('🔗 Connected to Python IPC server');
});

// API endpoint proxying to Python backend
app.post('/api/process', async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const result = await pythonClient.sendRequest('processing', {
            action: 'process_user_data',
            data: req.body,
            connection_id: pythonClient.connectionId
        });
        
        res.json(result.payload);
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
    }
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log('🌐 Express server running on port 3000');
    console.log('📡 Proxying requests to Python IPC server');
});

📊 Performance Characteristics

Feature	Performance	Details
Connection Handling	Sub-millisecond	Fast TCP connection establishment
Message Processing	<1ms latency	Direct socket communication
Concurrent Connections	100+ clients	Thread-safe connection management
Message Throughput	High-volume	Efficient message routing
Memory Usage	Low footprint	Optimized Python implementation
Error Recovery	Automatic	Robust connection cleanup

🎯 Use Cases

This Python IPC server enables powerful hybrid architectures:

Backend Services

• AI/ML model serving - Host machine learning models and serve predictions to Node.js frontends
• Data processing pipelines - Heavy computational tasks handled by Python, coordinated with Node.js
• Real-time analytics - Python analytics engines feeding real-time dashboards
• Scientific computing - NumPy/SciPy computations accessible from Node.js applications

Microservice Architecture

• Polyglot microservices - Python services integrated with Node.js API gateways
• Event-driven architecture - Python services publishing events to Node.js consumers
• Service mesh integration - Python backend services in cloud-native environments
• Legacy system integration - Bridge existing Python systems with modern Node.js frontends

Hybrid Applications

• E-commerce platforms - Python inventory/pricing engines with Node.js storefronts
• Financial services - Python quantitative analysis with Node.js trading interfaces
• IoT platforms - Python device controllers with Node.js monitoring dashboards
• Chat applications - Python NLP processing with Node.js real-time messaging

🆚 Why Choose IPC over HTTP?

HTTP API Approach	IPC Framework
❌ High latency overhead	✅ Direct TCP communication
❌ Request/response only	✅ Request/response + pub/sub
❌ Manual connection management	✅ Automatic reconnection
❌ Complex error handling	✅ Built-in fault tolerance
❌ No real-time capabilities	✅ Live notifications
❌ Stateless limitations	✅ Persistent connections

🔗 Companion Packages

This Python server works with the Node.js client package:

• Node.js Client: @ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs - Production-ready TCP client
• Installation: npm install @ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs
• Documentation: Node.js Package Docs

🚀 Getting Started

1. Install the Python server:

   pip install ipc-framework
   

2. Install the Node.js client:

   npm install @ifesol/ipc-framework-nodejs
   

3. Run the examples above to see the integration in action!

📚 Documentation

• Python API Reference
• Node.js Client Usage
• Integration Examples

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Help us improve the Python ↔ Node.js IPC communication experience.