Ben Busse, product lead at DreamFactory, covers the importance of reusable REST APIs for enterprise mobile app development. Why are reusable APIs important, what are reusable APIs, and how do you use reusable APIs in practice. Ben gave this talk at the 2015 International PHP Conference in Berlin, Germany.

1. REST-Enabling Enterprise Data in the
Mobile Era
Ben Busse
Product Lead, DreamFactory
http://www.dreamfactory.com

2. Lessons learned
Reusable APIs
Mobile use case examples

3. What makes a good REST
API for mobile apps?

4. Lessons learned

5. Typical enterprise mobile project:
More than HALF of time spent on
backend integration and testing!

6. One-off APIs for each new project
slows you down

7. The problem is compounded by
mobile
Large enterprises need to deploy
THOUSANDS of mobile apps!

8. App 1

9. File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
App 1

10. App 1
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

11. App 1 App 2
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

12. App 1 App 2
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

13. App 1 App 2 App 3
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

14. App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

15. API Complexity
New APIs for every project
Tightly linked to data sources
Tightly linked to backend infrastructure
Poorly documented
Difficult to scale, not portable
Many security vulnerabilities
Server-side software development
Time consuming interface negotiation

16. Client-Side
Team
Server-Side
Team
The Interface Negotiation
Testing
New
Application
Requirements
New
REST API
Services

17. App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

18. • API Creation Tools
– Generates more complexity faster
• API Management Tools
– Introduces additional proxy endpoint
– Increases overall complexity of the system
– Still writing one-off APIs!
• Mobile Device Management
– Control the data, not the devices
Complexity Band-Aids

19. Reusable APIs for each new
project
speeds you up

20. Invert the problem
Start with the data, not the apps.

21. Reusable Set of REST APIs
App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

22. Reusable Set of REST APIs
App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

23. Reusable Set of REST APIs
App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4
File
Storage
SQL
Database
NoSQL
Documents
External
Services

24. Reusable APIs for any new project
Customization for special cases
Focus on front-end app development
Decouple client-side from server-side
Flexible backend infrastructure
Flexible backend data sources
Automatically documented
Scalable, reliable, portable, secure
Reusable API Approach

25. Reusable APIs are a good thing!
Documented
Secure
Portable
Much less integration
Much less testing

26. What is a reusable REST
API?

27. Simple AND flexible

28. Consistently structured for
SQL, NoSQL, file stores

29. Designed for high transaction
volume

30. Support native mobile
and
web applications

31. Reusable APIs in practice

32. Noun-based endpoints and
HTTP verbs work great

33. SQL API Examples
Multiple
records
Single
records
Stored
procedures
& functions

34. NoSQL API Examples
Multiple
documents
Single
documents

35. File API Examples
Multiple
files
Single files

36. Manageable number of API
endpoints
SQL – 41
Files – 16
CRUD
NoSQL – 35
SQL: NoSQL +
{Schema,
Relations,
Procedures,
Functions}
NoSQL: Files +
{Filters}

37. Append parameters to endpoints
Dates
Filters
Pagination
Relationships
Files
Advanced Use Cases

38. http://www.myserver.com/rest/oracleDB/Contacts?filter=la
stName%20like%20‘jon%’&order=firstName
Server Database
Filter Parameter Other Parameters
Request URL
{
“record”: [
{
“firstName”: “Bob”,
“lastName”: “Jones”,
},
{
“firstName”: “Susan”,
“lastName”: “Jong”,
},
]
}
JSON Response
Table

39. Use case examples

40. Dates

41. ?filter = ToDoDate >= '2015-05-01’ and ToDoDate <=
'2015-05-31’ & order = ToDoDate
Date Range Filter
Find ToDo
records in
the month
of May

42. Filters

43. ?filter = CreateDate = '2015-05-03’ and Archive = FALSE
and ProjectName like ‘Next%’
Complex Filters
Find active
projects
from
yesterday
where the
name starts
with “next”

44. Pagination

45. ?limit = 100 & offset = 100 & order = Name
Pagination and Ordering
Load the
second 100
ToDo
records
sorted by
name

46. Relationships

47. https://www.myserver.com/rest/db-
api/Project?ids=348&related=Task
Fetch Parent-Child Relationships
Load a
project and
all related
tasks

48. /db-api/table?ids=1013&related=childTable
General Cases for Relationships
GET Record and Child Records (1:M)
/db-api/table?ids=467&related=siblingTableByJunction
GET Record and Related Records (M:M via Junction Table)

49. {
"record": [
{
"contactId": 100,
"firstName": "Adam",
"lastName": "Ross",
"contactinfos_by_contactId": [
{
"infoId": 298,
"contactId": 100,
"infoType": "Home",
"phone": "415-770-2025"
},
{
"infoId": 299,
"contactId": 100,
"infoType": "Work",
"phone": "650-452-1668"
}
]
}
]
}
General Cases for Relationships
POST / PUT Record and Child Records
https://www.myserver.com/rest/db/contacts?rollback=true

50. Files

51. https://www.myserver.com/rest/s3/applications/dreamteam-
docs/?
include_folders=true&include_files=true&full_tree=true
Files & Binary Objects

52. /files-
api/container/folderName/?include_folders=true&in
clude_files=true&full_tree=true
General Cases for Files
GET All Folders, Sub-Folders and Files in a Container
/files-api/container/fullFilePath.fileType
GET a File
/files-api/container/fullFilePath.fileType
POST a File

53. Advanced Use Cases
Stored Procedures
Functions
Server-Side Scripts
Schema

54. Stored Procedures
Call procedure with parameters

55. Stored Functions
Call function with parameters

56. Server-Side Scripts
Custom business logic
Workflow triggers
Formula fields
Field validation
Remote web service
orchestration

57. Server-Side Scripts
Field validation
Workflow trigger

58. Schema
Operate on tables and fields

59. If you remember one thing….
Simplify development with
reusable APIs!

60. Thank You!
QUESTIONS
benbusse@dreamfactory.com
@benbusse