Open Source Search for Rails

In this presentation at the WNB.rb Meetup, Allison Zadrozny discusses how to effectively structure code to provide relevant search results in a basic Rails application without relying on JavaScript. The session focuses on open-source tools for implementing search functionality, along with best practices and considerations for integration.

Key Points:

• Introductory Overview:

  • Allison introduces herself as a product engineer and lead designer at Bonsai, sharing the demo project built around a search feature for books.
    
  • She acknowledges the importance of relevance in search, which many attendees highlighted as a key factor.

• Building a User Interface (UI):

  • A well-structured UI is essential for different search use cases, such as exploratory searches (Pinterest, YouTube) versus specific searches (Amazon).
    
  • The UI should guide the design and structure of the search index.

• Iterative Approach to Search Queries:

  • Good search functionality requires constant iteration over queries and indexing to improve user experience.
    
  • Useful tools must be in place for quick iteration.

• Understanding Search Indexing:

  • An index is crucial for efficiently retrieving information, and the talk briefly introduces a prior work, "storysearch.com," which explains indexing concepts.
  • Emphasizes the importance of using large, normalized datasets—citing sources like Kaggle for data acquisition.

• Workflow Steps:

  • Setting up a database with PostgreSQL, followed by integration with search engines like OpenSearch.
    
  • Highlights the distinctions between indexing in relational databases versus dedicated search databases.

• Data Handling and Indexing Tools:

  • Allison details how to transform data for searching using Ruby objects and creating indexing jobs through rake tasks.
    
  • Shares examples of filtering results and managing mappings and features to optimize the index structure according to the UI needs.

• Search Tools and Integration:

  • Describes the controller setup for handling search requests, the creation of a BookSearcher service, and the importance of clean response handling.
    
  • Emphasizes the inclusion of presentation aspects through the use of partials for better UI management.

Conclusion:

• The session concludes with a call for attendees to utilize and contribute to the open-source repository showcased in the demo, encouraging collaboration and discussion on best practices.
  
• The overarching message highlights the significance of efficient indexing, responsive design, and the balance between shipping features and maintaining code quality amidst tech debt and time constraints.