ServiceNow POC

In my blog post, “Getting Games from Steam using Flow Designer and REST Actions,” I explored how you can use Flow Designer and REST to get games from your Steam library. Later, Carlos Comacho Junior hosted me, where I demonstrated my entire application for rating my Steam games head-to-head.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later, I lost access to my PDI. Although my code was backed up in GIT, I lost all my rating data.

As a ServiceNow Architect, armed with ChatGPT 4, I ventured from the safety of the NowPlatform into full stack dev. I challenged myself to step away from ServiceNow (for a change) and rebuild it as a full-stack app from the ground up. Armed with a ChatGPT4 subscription, I could dive into the full-stack world.

steamgames.whichisthe.best

Fast-forward to today, and I can share that I’ve deployed a stable re-platformed version of my app, rebranded as “WhichIsThe.Best,” on a new platform I developed called the FaceOff Ranking System.

The first iteration of my app is for ranking Steam games, with an integrated login with Steam. I could never get this going in ServiceNow, as they have long since deprecated OpenID 2.0 in favour of OpenID Connect.

Check it out for yourself at steamgames.whichisthe.best

The TechStack

I ended up using what is known as the MERN stack (with MySQL), which comprises the following:

• MySQL (Database)
• Express (Client-Server)
• ReactJS (Client)
• NodeJS (Server)

I used MySQL because it was all I knew.

ReactJS was the only choice as it seemed popular, and I had heard stories of people trying to hack it into the Service Portal. I can see the advantages over AngularJS used in Service Portal (a technology decision I am sure ServiceNow regrets).

Express was used, as that is what everyone seemed to be using and what GenAI suggested.

I picked NodeJS because it is similar to Rhino (ServiceNow server-side JavaScript). While similar, they are slightly different. GenAI was very fluent. ServiceNow Script includes could not simply be copy-pasted; not just because of syntax differences, but API too.

Rhino

FaceOffUtils.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {

        this.algoGr = this.getDefaultOpponentSelectionAlogGr();
        this.judgeGr = new GlideRecord('x_43553_faceoff_judge');
        this.judgeGr.get(FaceOffUtils.GetCurrentJudgeSysId());
		this.judgeSysId = this.judgeGr.getValue('sys_id');
		this.filterRelevantOnly = false;
    },

NodeJS

class FaceOffMatchUpManager {
    constructor(profileId) {
        this.profileId = profileId || "76561197961776837"; // Default profile ID
        this.bestSelection = null;
        this.bestSelectionIndex = -1;
    }

IDE

I’m just using boring old VSCode. I was also recommended an IDE called Cursor, which has embedded GenAI capabilities.

Deployment

The site is hosted on https://cloud.digitalocean.com/, which hosts my entire stack, including MySQL. Code is deployed automatically when I commit to my main GIT branch.

GenAI?

I leaned on ChatGPT4 a lot to get me through the project.

I didn’t plan on integrating with OpenAI to generate category colours, emojis, descriptions, and images using my own GenAiPI. More on that another time…

Conclusions

Despite having GenAI, building a platform from scratch was a lot more challenging than I thought. I missed having a fantastic platform (like the NowPlatform) with an abstracted database API, load balancing, and low-code tools. Many hours were spent deciphering MySQL errors and navigating foreign keys and cascade deletes – not to mention hitting database connection limits due to poor coding architecture. GlideRecord is amazing!

From this project, I have a stronger appreciation for the ServiceNow platform, and I hope to apply the design lessons learned to the architecture of future ServiceNow solutions!

I also found my PDI again! It is not connected to my developer account; it is floating around in the ether like a museum piece or a relic. PDI – I thank you for your service (no pun intended).