mtextur
Mtextur is a platform featuring around 70’000 real-world surface materials, which attracts extremely high traffic and is used by architects and designers worldwide. In 2014, the founder had enough of offshoring and brought the project back to Switzerland, to Renuo.
Provided Services
Link to project
Technologies
Figures, metrics, data retention
Manufacturers pay for their visibility. Consequently, one of our first priorities was the issue of statistics. Given the large number of textures and users, it is clear that access data cannot be queried directly. We have therefore developed a multi-stage aggregation pipeline: we have consolidated the data into monthly aggregates, selectively pruned older granularity levels, and designed the database structure to ensure that queries remain efficient over long time periods.
Interfaces and partner integrations
Another key area of focus was the development of a public REST API for third-party partners. We designed the versioning, authentication, abuse protection and integration into the existing statistics framework from scratch. For more complex integrations, we provide direct support to our partners. Today, mtextur is directly integrated into the most important architectural tools.
Software beyond code
Since the takeover, usage of mtextur has increased 60-fold. This presents some fundamental challenges: optimising database queries, caching strategies, scaling infrastructure, background processes and rate limits for API queries. Phew, thank goodness we studied computer science!
