Go Life Server

Note: This project serves as a playground for testing development workflows and capabilities with Cline, an AI software engineering assistant.

Overview

Go Life Server is a high-performance implementation of Conway's "Game of Life" designed to demonstrate systems engineering mastery. It features a highly concurrent backend capable of processing large grids efficiently and a lightweight frontend for real-time visualization.

Key Features

• High Concurrency: The backend leverages Go's concurrency primitives (Worker Pools, sync.Mutex, sync.WaitGroup) to distribute grid calculations across multiple CPU cores.
• TDD Compliance: Core simulation logic is verified using comprehensive Table-Driven Tests to ensure correctness before any API development.
• Real-time Visualization: The frontend uses HTML5 Canvas and requestAnimationFrame for smooth, high-performance rendering without UI frameworks.
• Hexagonal Architecture: Strict separation of concerns using Ports & Adapters to decouple the simulation engine from the WebSocket delivery mechanism.
• Seamless Deployment: Fully containerized with Docker for easy one-command startup.

Architecture

The project follows the Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters) pattern:

• Inner Hexagon (Domain): Contains pure Go logic for the simulation (Universe, Rules). Zero external dependencies.
• Middle Hexagon (Application): Orchestrates the simulation loop and manages concurrency.
• Outer Hexagon (Adapters):
  • Primary: WebSocket Handler for receiving user commands.
  • Secondary: State Broadcaster for pushing binary updates to the frontend.

Tech Stack

Backend

• Language: Go 1.25+
• Transport: gorilla/websocket (Binary protocol)
• Concepts: Concurrency, Worker Pools, Clean Architecture

Frontend

• Language: TypeScript
• Rendering: HTML5 Canvas API
• Tooling: Vite

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Go 1.25+ (for local development)
• Make

Running the Application

Launch the entire stack (Backend + Frontend) with a single command:

docker compose up --build -d

The application will be accessible at:

• Frontend: http://localhost:80
• Backend: http://localhost:8080 (Internal API)

Development & Testing

Use the included Makefile for common development tasks:

# Run all unit tests
make test

# Run performance benchmarks
make bench

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.