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So I am creating a project with a couple of buddies and I need to create an API. This is my first time creating a big project and creating my own API. I don't know where to start. The project that we're working on will have a website, an app for Android and IOS, and use PostgreSQL. We will be using Javascript and Node.js as well. If there are any tips about creating API's for Android, IOS, and Web please let me know.
I would strongly recommend you read "RESTful Web Services" by Richardson
The book gives a thorough grounding in the "why?" behind organizing resources restfully. Also provides a good outline of different RESTful authentication mechanisms and the pros and cons of each - vital for a mobile app talking to a web-based back-end.
Then, sit back and outline the resources that will be necessary to run your app and have at it!
First of all take paper and pen to start design the architecture and write down all use cases. Also define the way data will be access.
While creating an API for mobile apps we should keep some important things in mind. First what type of API it should be JSON based or XML. And I will prefer JSON for mobile app as its lightweight and will take less time to parse. Also it will be fast to transmit. While XML bit costly.
One of most important thing you should design the api as secure as it could be. Because sensitive information can be sniff by some one. better to use SSL hand shake to make it secure.
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I need some tips, something to give me a way or to brighten my mind. My app idea is a Recipe's Book app. But I imagine the following scenario: user writes recipes in PC (desktop app), and then, when going to cook, at the kitchen, read/ edit the recipes on the Mobile version. Aka the app do the same things in both platforms. The app is simple, basically the data will be text. But my problem is: I only knew how to develop native apps, both mobile or desktop, with local database. Recently I've been developing on xamarin. I'm doing well at it, but My question is: how am I going to share this database? I would need it to be on cloud, right? So how could I be doing that? I just want to understand, not how exactly to do it, but now I dont have a clue on how to do that. And if you have a better platform to develop this idea, I accept tips
You need two things
Database
API
The database is to store the data, and the API is the way your different apps will exchange the data with the API.
API in a nutshell
For example : the desktop will talk to the API to add a recipe to the database, and form the other side the Mobile App will ask the API to get that recipe.
I advice you to start with MongoDB (free tier) and Express it's the fastest way to get started
According to your situation I can advice you to use Firebase Real Time Database, it has all the functionality you want of updating data in real time and fetch it also faster and implementing it is not hard as you need to configure it in your project environment I can refer you to this Page to learn more about firebase , in case you want to refer to their documentation check here.
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I want to develop application for Android and iOS.
It will be simple application with some data of users and some achievement animations.
It will comunicate with our servers, where will be used REST as backend.
I need the application to be secured. There will be stored very sensitive data.
I think application won't need much performance.
I'm going to be project leader, so I have to find programmer. So if I use framework, then the programming language will have to be in good performance/price ratio.
It's difficult to answer your question due to lack of information, but I have gained some experience regarding this topic from the past year.
The choice of your frameworks depends on time/cost, resources and know-how. I suppose your question is about whether to use a webframe including webprogramming, or native iOS and Android implementation.
The big advantages of using a Webframe are:
Can easily be included on both platforms Only has to be implemented
once (with a view platform specific adaptions e.g. access to camera
etc.)
No additional know-how is required (just JavaScript and HTML)
The implementation is easy and development fast Subsequently the development time is reduced
The disadvantages are:
Webframes are slow
If there are animations like transitions it could be laggy
User triggered events could also be delayed. (just a few milliseconds, but it could be very annoying.
This could conclude in a total useless app, because the userexperience is very bad.
If you want a throughout solid app which offers a flawless userexperience I highly recommend a native implementation. But you have to consider, this affords experienced Android and iOS programmer, and is associated with more development time and subsequenlty more costs.
I recommend to implement a simple prototype which includes the animations and the main features. If the userexperience is good then go for it.
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Thanks to all for their earlier support. Now these days i am looking for a Framework Which can provide backend support for Android Applications. I found one of them is Parse Here . Although i didn't initiate any implementation based on the same but it seems very promising after once visit their portal, dashboard and documentation. Can anybody describe pros and cons of using such Framework. If anybody have any experience to work upon Parse Framework please share your feedback should i go ahead in the reference. Is it free to start like developing demo Apps. Thanks very much in advance.
The basic plan, which is all you need to get started, is free.
The most important reason, in my opinion, to use a service like Parse is that you can focus on your app, and what's special about it, and let someone else make sure your backend just works. A service like that will scale to whatever number of users your app gets (providing you design it correctly). The API is also quite similar between the platforms they support (like Android, iOS etc) so that the backend does not create obstacles in the event you need to port your app to other platforms.
You also have the advantage that the API is so similar to the programming you're already doing with your app so it fits very well with your existing code.
Just make sure you design your backend with a NoSQL mindset and don't fall in the trap of trying to implement a SQL-ish model that will not scale. Going through the Anypic tutorial on their site is a good primer if you are not used to designing for NoSQL databases.
Good luck!
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I have been doing some research to create an IM application. I saw many sample codes and still trying to decide which method to use. Before starting development I want to ask your opinion if anybody knows how popular IM applications such as Kakao Talk, Line, We Chat, WhatsApp work.
I saw some articles saying to use Google Cloud, and some articles about using XMPP.
I am a kinda new for Android development and before starting development I want to see all my possibilities and choose best method for that.
Thanks for your time.
Well, I would presume they don't all work the same way. There are different techniques one can use to implement a chat client. Each of these companies might have their own proprietory technologies depending on their scale, user base, finances etc.
2 popular options you can check out are :
XMPP - It's supported by most major chat clients and is used by the likes of Facebook (a customized version of it anyway). asmack is a popular XMPP library for Android which might be useful to you.
A Backend-As-A-Service (BAAS) provider like Parse. This will save you a lot of server side heavy lifting and writing backend code like you would have to do if you were considering something like AWS
If this is a learning project, I would suggest implementing a very simple client and writing both the server and client-side code so that you know how the whole stack works. Hope that helps!
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I was wondering how people generally realize backends for either complex data-synchronization ("cloud"-sync, since everyone seems to love that word) or simple user-management when developing mobile apps for iOS an Android. I'm not much of a web-guy, so I'm sorta clueless here.
What's your system of choice? Is everyone just writing custom solutions in Ruby, PHP, Java Servlets... which return JSON via HTTP (HTTPS for confidential information) or is there any standardized framework out there that I've been missing? Especially in combination w/ databases - apparently, you need to store the information somewhere.
Sorry for the very general question - but I'm not really sure where to start refreshing my knowledge here.
You can try Parse.com as a backend solution.
If it is simple application I use parse.com. If I need more flexible backend I use Ruby on Rails.
It's so simple to get started with a mobile backend these days that you should really give it a shot.
Kii Cloud for example supports data and file synchronization and user management including support for Facebook and Twitter accounts and has a generous free tier with carrier grade scalability and reliability.
From all the research I have done Parse or Kinvey sound like the best choices. I was about to build out my won backend out of pure ignorance but after researching thee tools I am going to go with one of them. Kinvey has a pretty cool estimation tool that demonstrates how much time you will save: http://www.kinvey.com/app-cost-estimator
Hey why reinvent the wheel.
Built.io's Backend https://www.built.io/products/backend/overview is my backend solution of choice, its such a simple and straightforward tool to design and build apps.