How Holepunch Is Redefining Peer-to-Peer Apps with Bare.js — A New Era for JavaScript Developers -JSJ 681

How Holepunch Is Redefining Peer-to-Peer Apps with Bare.js — A New Era for JavaScript Developers -JSJ 681

In this episode, we sit down with Mathias Madsen, CEO of Holepunch, and take a wild ride through the cutting edge of peer-to-peer JavaScript development. Mathias shares his journey from accidentally discovering JavaScript in college to becoming a prolific contributor with over 1,500 open source modules. His passion? Building decentralized, peer-to-peer systems where JavaScript isn’t just for the browser—it powers the entire stack.

We dive deep into how Holepunch is reimagining application distribution with their Pear system —essentially turning peer-to-peer into a first-class citizen for distributing full applications, not just files. No hosting, no servers — just apps shared directly, BitTorrent-style. And because packaging and distributing Node-based apps can be painfully complex, they took things a step further by building a new runtime: Bare.js

Bare.js is refreshingly "bare": it strips away the heavy, opinionated APIs bundled into Node or Deno, leaving just the JavaScript core and a powerful module system. What’s revolutionary here is Bare's ability to run the same codebase across desktop, mobile, and even tiny embedded devices—swapping out engines like V8, JavaScriptCore, or JerryScript depending on the platform's needs. This allows Mathias' team to write backend logic once, share it across all platforms, and iterate at lightning speed.

Key takeaways:
-Peer-to-peer can go far beyond media sharing — it's being used for full app distribution.
-Bare.js decouples JavaScript from specific platforms, creating a universal backend that just works anywhere.
-Modular design isn't just a philosophy — it's the secret to Holepunch’s rapid development pace.
-The combination of React Native for UI and Bare.js for backend creates an insanely productive development pipeline, fully cross-platform.


If you’re into JavaScript, peer-to-peer tech, or just love hearing about developers breaking the mold, this one’s for you.


About the Guest

Mathias is the CEO of Holepunch (https://holepunch.to/). He brings his passion for open-source software, and deep experience in the area, having published more than 1000 modules to npm, the Node.js package manager, totaling billions of downloads every month.

Mathias Buus is a self taught Javascript hacker from Copenhagen. He works full time on open source projects and has been working with Node.js since the 0.2 days. Mathias likes to work with P2P and distributed systems and is the author of more than 550 modules on npm, including some of the most popular ones for working with streams. In addition he has spoken about mad science projects at various conferences around the world.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

Episoder(732)

028 JSJ Greenfield vs Brownfield Projects

028 JSJ Greenfield vs Brownfield Projects

PanelJoe Eames (twitter github blog) AJ O'Neal (twitter github blog) Jamison Dance (twitter github blog) Charles Max Wood (twitter github Teach Me To Code Rails Summer Camp) DiscussionGreenfield - Brand New Project Brownfield - Older Applications, Legacy Code Poopfield - PHP Development Dealing With Legacy Code Use Tests Working Effectively with Legacy Code - Michael Feathers Risk When is the big rewrite the correct answer? PicksJoseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (AJ) Roll Up Crepes (AJ) Calepin (AJ) Bernie (Jamison) Dota 2 (Jamison) Derrick Storm Novels - A Brewing Storm, A Bloody Storm, A Raging Storm (Joe) Castle (Joe) X-Wing Mineatures (Joe) PEX For Fun (Joe) MLG Championship - Starcraft Duel (Joe) VESA 75 to 100 Adapter (Chuck) LG Tone Bluetooth Headphones (Chuck) Transcript JOE: Listen baby, it won’t get weird.JAMISON: [Chuckles]AJ: That sounds... weird.JAMISON: [Chuckles] Too Late.[Hosting and bandwidth provided by the Blue Box Group. Check them out at bluebox.net.][This episode is sponsored by Harvest. I use Harvest to track time, track subcontractor’s time and invoice clients. Their time tracking is really simple and easy to use. Invoicing includes a ‘pay now’ function by credit card and PayPal. And you can sign up at getharvest.com. Use the code RF to get 50% off your first month.]CHUCK: Hey everybody and welcome to episode 28 of the JavaScript Jabber show. This week on our panel, we have AJ O’Neil.AJ: Yo, yo, yo comin’ at you live from the second story of an office base in Orem, Utah.CHUCK:  We also have Jamison Dance.JAMISON: Hi, I’m Jamison Dance and I am super excited, because today iTV just announced that we are doing the Nintendo TV thing; and I haven’t been able to talk about it for, like, six months, so it’s a good day.CHUCK: Cool. We also have Joe Eames.JOE: Comin at you semi live from American Fork, Utah.CHUCK: And I am Charles Max Wood from devchat.tv. Tim is not with us this week because he is in China. I thought I’d point that out, because I think it’s cool. Anyway, this week we are going to be talking about Greenfield versus Brownfield projects. It was kind of funny when we were getting ready to do this, some of the panels were like, Green/Brown?JAMISON: Yeah, I have to pull Josh Susser and ask for a definition.CHUCK: So, as far as I understand it, there are some new --- to this, depending to who you talk to, but mostly, Greenfield is a brand new project with few or no decisions made and no code written for it yet. And Brownfield projects are effectively older applications usually associated with legacy code. You know, so it’s an application that already has code written toward it. Typically, it is out there in the world doing whatever it is supposed to do.JAMISON: Now, I want to put this question delicately. Are there any fecal connotations to the color ‘brown’ in Brownfield?CHUCK: Only if it’s PHP.JOE: [Chuckles]. Then it’s Poopfield Development?CHUCK: [Chuckles]. Okay, we are not gonna go down that tangent.[Laughter]AJ: Because, I mean honestly, when Mormons make jokes about crap, it never sounds good anyway.CHUCK: Yeah. So anyway, how many of you guys have actually worked on a real Greenfield project? Like been there from day one, that you have it just built yourself.JAMISON: I guess it depends on your definition. Maybe. So we have lots of services at ITV, so I've been part of spinning up completely new services that didn’t exist. We had other sort of similar things already, so some of the decisions were already made for, so we kind of had a style established. But it was still like a separate project.AJ: Do you forget us so soon, Jamison?JAMISON: [Chuckles].AJ: You don’t remember ever working here or getting started…JAMISON: I do. I don’t remember Greenfield stuff; I remember new features, I mean, Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

21 Sep 201214min

027 JSJ The JavaScript Community

027 JSJ The JavaScript Community

The panelists discuss the JavaScript community at large. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

5 Sep 201249min

026 JSJ Code Organization and Reuse

026 JSJ Code Organization and Reuse

The panelists talk about code organization and reuse. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

28 Aug 201256min

025 JSJ Require.js with James Burke

025 JSJ Require.js with James Burke

The panelists talk to James Burke about Require.js.Special Guest: James Burke . Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

21 Aug 201235min

024 JSJ Strata.js with Michael Jackson

024 JSJ Strata.js with Michael Jackson

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

14 Aug 201243min

023 JSJ Phantom.js with Ariya Hidayat

023 JSJ Phantom.js with Ariya Hidayat

The panelists talk to Ariya Hidayat about Phantom.js.Special Guest: Ariya Hidayat. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

7 Aug 201240min

022 JSJ Node.js on Azure with Glenn Block

022 JSJ Node.js on Azure with Glenn Block

The panelists talk to Glenn Block about Azure.Special Guest: Glenn Block. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

1 Aug 201256min

021 JSJ Weapons of Choice

021 JSJ Weapons of Choice

The panelists discuss their weapons of choice. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/javascript-jabber/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/javascript-jabber--6102064/support.

30 Jul 20121h 11min

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