I'm building an application for android which collects user data.
Also I'm going to build a website which will use that data where users can have an account and synchronize data with phone and website (I guess it's quite common setup).
Site will be using MySQL database, but I want it to be database independent using some kind of API.
I think I'm going to use Python for website (Django).
Since I haven't started whole synchronization part yet I have a question on how to do it best.
Which protocol to use - JSON, SOAP, XML (any other)? Which is best supported in android?
What are the best practices in doing such a thing?
Leonti
Android lacks a built-in API for processing SOAP or XML-RPC requests, so I would go with a REST-style Web service. JSON is probably the easiest from an Android perspective to consume and create.
Related
I am an Android developer and I want to make an app which shows users on a map and performs tasks based on their location.
The whole model of the app has to run in the server. I need an API which:
Receives user location
Performs calculations based on the location of the users
Sends response to specific users with the results
The problem is that I have 0 experience in doing server side programming.
Can you please suggest me a way of making the server?
I checked the Google Colud Platform and this video. The video addresses the connection between the app and the server, but what I really need is coding the model and deploying it on the cloud.
What is the way for me to build the API for such an app, as a developer with no server side programming experience?
Can you suggest me a tutorial which goes trough the process of building a cloud backend for a mobile app?
This is a very complex question. I don't recommend using a "ready-made" solution like FireBase because it's even harder to transform it into a "proper" API later on when you need it. If you know Android then you know Java, you'll have no problem learning working with a framework like Spring Framework which I recommend. Java on the backend needs a Java Servlet container, like Tomcat. First you should set up a development environment on your machine for this. I recommend searching for Spring Framework tutorials for this i.e. Spring Framework REST tutorials.
Secondly you'll need a database like MySql or MongoDB to store data. Spring comes with ready made connections to most of the most common databases, so its pretty easy to work with them.
When you're ready to deploy your service I recommend using a PAAS like Heroku.com where you can run your service for free first. In this way you get to control everything yourself and you also learn a useful skill.
Since you are coming from the JAVA background you just need some basic building blocks and you shall be good to go.
Use PASS: They will take any devops from your side which will be a big relief considering you are not familiar with anything on server side. I recommend using Heroku or App Engine. Here's guide to App Engine with JAVA on top. https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/java/
Database: Not sure how you are storing and managing your user data as of now, but if you need database, there are various of those available now. The reason Firebase is top suggestion, cause it leverages realtime and gives you control on your side without spending a lot of time on your side.
APIs: You will be taking user's geo-location and sending it to server. On server you will need to process that into a real world location and any other logic. You will need to use Google's GeoLocation and reverse geocoding APIs for that. Find apis here : https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/
Also if it's any help, App Engine and Heroku both offer free limits and should be pretty sufficient for your use case.
Since you have limited experience on server side development I'd suggest using a backend-as-a-service platform. This approach has the benefits of allowing you to focus your time coding the client where your competitive differentiators are, and lets you leverage years of experience in server-side development without having to ramp up on the technology. It also means you can iterate quickly and test features ideas with less risk.
There are several options out there, but in your case, you'll need something that provides enough flexibility to implement custom logic and a custom data model. Some platforms allow you to create a full backend application with REST api endpoints, and automatically take care of deployment, security and management. Some examples of backend service providers can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_backend_as_a_service.
Some of the platforms actually allow you to build a full custom app without actually writing any code, and some of them provide ready-made components (like chat, leaderboards etc) but are less flexible.
Here's a list of Backend-as-a-service providers:
https://quickblox.com/
https://www.appcelerator.com/
http://www.configure.it/
https://cloudboost.io/
http://api.shephertz.com/
https://backendless.com/
http://pipegears.com (No coding required)
You didn't provide specific details about the tasks you want to implement on the backend, but it's likely that you could satisfy your requirements with a straightforward REST api that accepts your location data, runs business logic, reads or writes from your data model and returns whatever data your client needs. (Sorry I can't get more specific without details on your requirements). If you're dealing in sensitive information like location data, I'd strongly recommend securing the api with TLS/SSL (i.e. https), or make sure the platform you use provides this.
My client has Joomla website with plugins (Mosets tree and JSE events) that basically lists business an events. He wants an android app developed to fetch these info. Immidiately what came to mind, is I create php scripts that query the Database and I call those scripts from my app. In my app, I display the information collected.
Another idea that occurred to me, is to enable RSS feed and then I read this RSS feed.
Is my approach above the right approach? Is there a different way or standard way when developing apps that fetch information from the Joomla website backend?
Please note the website is already mobile friendly but the requirement is to create an app for part of the website. Any pointers are helpful
Building one or more PHP scripts that query the db and returns the data is definitely the faster and simpler solution.
If you want to build a more robust / compatible solution, you may extend your set of PHP scripts into a full blown REST API application. In that case take a look frameworks like SLIM or SILEX which are very good at this.
There are more complete and elegant solutions but they are probably overkill for your needs.
Edit: why query directly the database
In theory, it seems to be better to NOT access directly the database, and interact with the Mosets Tree component instead; because in that way you will not have to duplicate any logic.
But in my experience, with a very few exceptions, Joomla components are coded so that it's very hard to interact with them programmatically.
I answered a similar question regarding Joomla RESTful APIs here:
REST API for Joomla 3.0
Basically, I ended up developing a solution which meshes the Slim PHP micro-framework with the Joomla Framework / CMS (requires Joomla 3.4.3+).
Why?
Well, the main reason is that while using the Slim framework would be OK as a one-off solution, I realized that one would still need to develop all the accompanying ACL and access security, not to mention the actual CMS that might store and manage all the important data in the first place.
Basically, I did the work so you don't have to. Yes, it's a commercial component (must pay to download) but I think it's WELL worth it for what you end up getting out of it.
It's brand new, so the service routes in the cAPI ("Constant API") Core package are still limited, but those are being built-out over time (all included in the core package of course). The component/plugin/library package is architected to allow for easy integration of add-on plugins which will introduce new service routes to add functionality like RESTful JSON APIs for MySQL, MSSQL, MongoDB, LDAP, etc. I already use an alpha version of the LDAP add-on in a an enterprise environment, so I expect that to be available for purchase/download soon.
The point of all this is that you can use an existing Joomla site to drive mobile apps (with some development for Mosets), while taking advantage of built-in user management and ACL, along with token auth (via cAPI).
Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm building a new application for android and this would need to send and retreve data from an online database.
Firstly is this possible or is it a completely wrong approach?
Would i be able to tell my application to set certain data into the server and retreve other?
Does it create security risks by which anyone would be able to access the database?
It's my first time dealing with anything close to databases so i'm still learning.
Is there any website i can use which sets up an accessible SQL database?
Thanks for your help!
The Good approach for this is that you should create REST (Representational State Transfer) API on server and perform CRUD operations in your Android app using that API.
There are a lot of security problems with embedding direct database access into your app.
Usually,REST architecture is very useful to build client/server network applications. REST basically works on HTTP protocol and implementing REST is very simple compared to other methods like WSDL etc.
There are many good tutorials available on implementation of REST API that you can easily find by Googling it.
Here's one of them: http://www.androidhive.info/2014/01/how-to-create-rest-api-for-android-app-using-php-slim-and-mysql-day-12-2/
Yes, it is possible and it is not the wrong approach. Web services/REST API's are some things you should look at.
There are obvious security risks associated with having an outward facing web service or database. OWASP has a pretty good
web services guide that should get you started with the
security. You will need to address these risks prior to holding any sensitive/user information. There are plenty of guides online.
A couple of database hosting suggestions Amazon Web Services if you want it to be manage dfor you or create a VPS at Digital Ocean (or similar) website if you want to do it yourself.
Due to the open ended nature of this question there are numerous ways you can address these problems. I recommend spending a lot of time researching and analyzing them prior to starting the project and deciding on a technology.
This is not a wrong approach, most of the Android application send or receive data from online databases.
For connecting your Android app with the online database you can make of webservices , for instance you can create Rest Api for this.
For creating Rest Api using Asp.net web api visit this link
The answer for your last question would depend on the way your write your web services decide the security risk.
You can also use this reference
I and a colleague of mine are making an Android app for a bachelor project, and are not aware of what we should use in order to connect an Android device to an MS SQL database. The possible options we have considered so far are either using MVC4, WCF or Web API. We are trying to send just a bunch of strings from the database to the Android device, but we do not have extensive knowledge about either of the fore-mentioned technologies and we are wondering what is the best way and how to go about it all. We are also not aiming at creating a webpage for the project, and thus we think that MVC might be an overkill.
Thank you and we are looking towards your thoughts about this!
I am building a web service for my ASP.NET MVC 3 website. Ideally I would like all clients (my web pages, iphone application, android application, windows phone 7 application, etc.) to use the same service layer to load and save data.
I am new to mobile development and was wondering if there is a preferred mechanism - SOAP/JSON/etc - to use a heterogeneous mobile device setup. Specifically I'm wondering if Android and iOS have better libraries/support for one protocol over another or if the main mobile platforms have strong support for all protocols. I am also wondering if all is even when it comes to securing said services.
Any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks
JP
I would suggest a REST(ful) service with JSON.
Both Android and iOS have libraries that support parsing XML and JSON, however the JSON libraries are a bit easier to use and are a little bit faster.
With a little more effort you could allow your service to provide/consume both XML and JSON.
It would be preferable to avoid SOAP as it is more verbose and not as suitable for the more bandwidth/battery sensitive mobile devices.
This would be a great opportunity for you to try out WCF Data services, together with Entity Framework. You can build it very fast, and it exposes your information model using the OData international standard in both XML and JSON flavor. The interface is accessible throught REST. No problems interacting with any front-end technology, fat, web or mobile clients.
AND, you have all the benefits of re-using your C# .NET knowledge, visual studio and created assemblies to also make more tighter integration with Windows applications if you need to. It certainly did the trick for me!
So:
Create your application model using Entity Framework. Either database first if you already have a physical datamodel, or model first is you are starting from scratch.
Expose the created information model using WCF dataservices (5 lines of code)
You can find a walkthrough at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee336128.aspx
Happy coding!
I have almost same situation and what am I doing is, I am making WCFrest services for android and iphone.
In terms of the security, I am using role based membership provider. So i have created a user for the mobile clients with the role of 'Mobile clients' and give the user id (guid) as an 'api key' to the android and iphone developer.
The iphone and android developer has to send the 'api key' in the header of the request.
so before executing any method in my wcf, i am checking the api key and also checking if the request is from an android or iphone device.
I hope this will help you a little to plan your development..:)
Try using ksoap2 and have your WCF services use the basicHTTP binding.
If you have only primitive types as parameters, this should very easy. With some work you can also use it for more complex types.