On Channel Following Limits | Twitch Blog

We're raising that limit soon to 2000, with room for even more growth in the future. We work hard each and every day to ensure that Twitch ... Language Deutsch English Español Español-Latinoamérica Français Italiano 日本語 한국어 Polski PortuguêsBrasileiro Русский ภาษาไทย Türkçe 中文繁體 Thispostisnotavailableinyourlanguage.Herearesomeotheroptions: English OnChannelFollowingLimits Mar262013 TL;DR:WhiletryingtoimproveacriticalpartofTwitch,wemadeahastycodechangethatlimitedthenumberofchannelsviewerscouldfollowto100.Thatwasamistakeandwe’resorry!We’reraisingthatlimitsoonto2000,withroomforevenmoregrowthinthefuture. WeworkhardeachandeverydaytoensurethatTwitchisthebestplacetobroadcastandviewlivegamingvideo.WemoveveryfastanddeploycodealldaylongwiththegoalofmakingTwitchanevenbetterplace.Yesterdaywedeployedcodethatlimitedthenumberofchannelsausercouldfollowto100.BelowI’llexplainwhywechangedit,andhowwe’regoingtoaddressthisissue. Wheneveryoufollowachannel,wecreateafollowerrelationshipbetweenyouandthechannelyoufollowinourdatabase.Thispermitsustoshowyouinformationaboutwhoyoufollow,andshowchannelownersinformationaboutwhofollowsthem. Fromauserspointofviewthisiswonderful.Itletsuspopulatehttp://www.twitch.tv/directory/following(thesecondmost-visitedpagenooursite)withacustomizeddirectoryoflivevideo. Wewanttomakethesiteevenmorecustomizedand“live”—meaningthatassomeoneyoufollowcomesonlinewewantthesitetoletyouknow.Todothatwe“listen”forupdatestothechannelsthatyoufollow.Thatlisteningprocessisdataintensive—ittaxesyournetworkconnection,ittaxesyourcomputer(onlyalittle),andittaxesourservers.InordertoensureQoSandsitestability,whilerenewingthesite’sfocusonfollowerrelationshipsandlivecontent,wedecidedthatweshouldlimitthenumberofchannelsausercanfollowto100.Welow-balledit.Byalot. Why?Asdeveloperswehaveatendencytoputniceroundnumbersonthings.Wechose100channelsthatagivenusercouldfollowbecauseitseemsbig,particularlywhenweconsideredthe“listeningtoupdates”portionofthis.Ifeveryonethatwasonoursiteconcurrentlylistenedto100channels…well…thatwouldbeALOToflisteningtakingplace. Makingserversandserver-sidesoftwarerunefficientlyisahardjobbyitself—compoundthatwiththepotentialforunboundedcomputations,andyouhaveaveryhardjobindeed.So,itisfairlycommonpracticeamongengineerstolimitthings.Rarelydousersdiscoverthoselimits.Forexample,Idon’tknowifthereisalimittothenumberofpeoplethatyoucanfollowontwitter,butIassumethereis.IknowthatforalongtimeFacebookhadamaximumnumberoffriendsthatyoucouldhave.Allofthisisaboutbeingasefficientaspossible,notonlyinserverresourcesbutalsoinuserinterfaceconstraintstoo.Imagine,forexample,following10,000broadcastersontwitchandthendecidingthatyouwantedtounfollowsomeofthem—you’dendupwithalistthateffectivelyscrolledforeverandthatwouldbeaUInightmare! Followingrelationshipsareprovingtobequitetheengineeringchallenge(notealsolastweek’ssiteavailabilityblip).Wehaveaplanthatwillmassivelyupthelimitwe’veputin,from100allthewayto2000,withroomtoincreaseitevenmoreifpossible.Ideallywe’dliketoworkouthowtomakethisunlimited,butinthemeantimeweneedtocomeupwithanumberthatmakesyouhappywhilepermittingustomakeabetterproduct,andensuresiteQoSandstability.Ifwecanmaketheupcomingfeaturesworkforuserswhofollow2000channelsthenIsuspectwecanmakeitworkfornumberswellinexcessofthat. “So,”youmightask,“Willthishappenagain?”Ican’tlietoyouguys…probably.Twitchisgrowingvery,veryfastthankstoallofyou.Weareiteratingontheproductjustasfast,whichmeanswedeploycodealldayeveryday.OurgoalistomakeTwitchabetterandmorestableexperience.Wetakeareasonablelevelofcaretomakesurewedonotbreakthings;ifwedidn’ttakethecarewedothesitewouldbebrokenconstantly. Weloveworkingonthisstuff—itistechnicallychallengingandreallyrewarding.We’llmakemistakessometimes,andwealwaysstrivetolearnfromthemandnotrepeatthem.Ourcorefocusthisyearistomakethesiteabsolutelyfantastictouse,wewilladdtothatcorefocustheaimtomakethesechanges,nomatterhowamazing,asnon-disruptiveaspossible. Asalways,we’relistening.Feelfreetojumpintothecommentsbelowwithyourquestions/concerns.Thanksforreading! Mike—DirectorofSiteEngineering,Twitch Inothernews Mar26 EvolveLaunchesUniversalTwitchIntegrationLIVE!FromGDC Mar26 EvolveLaunchesUniversalTwitchIntegrationLIVE!FromGDC YoumayhavenoticedbackinDecemberthatEvolve,thegrowingsocialnetworkandcollaborationplatformforgamers,announcedtheirintention... Readmore Mar25 TwitchatGDC2013 Mar25 TwitchatGDC2013 Marchmadnessindeed.QuicklyontheheelsofwhatwasbyallaccountsanamazingPAXEast,Twitchisheadedright... Readmore .