Choosing a back end for your mobile app:

Although usually unnoticed by the final users, the back end is an important piece in the context of mobile application. In the past, building a back end meant renting some hardware or virtual machine, setting up the operative system, configuring the server, database, storage and writing the application logic. Nowadays great services and tools that allow to quickly setup a back end are spreading. I will provide an overview of the services which allow developers to integrate their mobile applications with back end functionalities and I am going to illustrate the features of BaasBox, an open source back end, and its SDKs.

Transcript

1. studiomagnolia.com Cesare Rocchi Choosing a back end for your mobile app:
   don’t roll the dice! _funkyboy
2. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Needs when choosing a backend •Features •Overview of different approaches Outline
3. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who am I?
4. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 UX designer and developer
5. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 upbeat.it
6. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 @_funkyboy
7. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 @funkyboy
8. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 http://neaterapp.com
9. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 http://appcolors.io
10. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who are you?
11. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •From web to app •Apps which are inherently mobile •App needs a back-end App Target
12. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 In essence …
13. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 … it’s complicated!
14. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Questions
15. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it?
16. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •At which level? •Am I able to do it? •Have I time to learn? •Is it worth it? Have I to manage it?
17. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model?
18. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Does it match my goals? •Can I change it if needed? •What about protocols? What’s the synch model?
19. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to pay?
20. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to pay?
21. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who is to pay?
22. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX?
23. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Does it break any flow? •How frequently? •is it “ok” with that? Impact on UX?
24. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Lock-in?
25. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •How to migrate data? •Switching cost? •Code front-end •Data compatibility Lock-in?
26. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •iCloud •Dropbox •Custom •Back-end as a Service (BaaS) Options
27. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What is iCloud?
28. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Synchs stuff
29. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 It just works ...
30. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 ... when it works.
31. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012
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35. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Have I to manage it? •What’s the synch model? •Who’s to pay? •Impact on UX? •Lock-in? Questions
36. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Learn the API •Apple takes care of •installation •scalability Have I to manage it?
37. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model?
38. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Monitors changes •Works on metadata •Shreds files •Supports conflict resolution Daemon
39. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Special folder, synched
40. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Synched when “appropriate”
41. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Key-value •Documents •Core Data Types of Information
42. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •The final user •Your app will use his quota •5Gb for free Who’s to pay?
43. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX?
44. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •User expectation •No control on upload •“Why isn’t there?” •Open the app to synch •User turns off iCloud? Impact on UX?
45. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Lock-in •Huge •Only on iOS/Mac •No way to migrate
46. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Dropbox
47. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •File-based •Special folder •Synchronized across devices •Supports other platforms Dropbox
48. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Already set up •installation •bandwidth •scalability Have I to manage it?
49. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Desktop synchronizes continuously •Mobile apps have to query the backend •HTTP API •SDKs for iOS, Android, Ruby, Python What’s the synch model?
50. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •No conflict resolution (revision #) •Data serialization is up to you •No file shredding What’s the synch model?
51. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •The final user •Your app will use his disk quota •2 Gb for free Who’s to pay?
52. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Authentication the first time •User might modify files •Control on the upload Impact on UX?
53. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Lock-in •None •Each user owns his data •Personal/team usage •... but nothing more
54. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •box.net •sugarsync.com •google drive •amazon S3 Similar
55. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Custom
56. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012
57. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 IaaS PaaS SaaS
58. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application IaaS PaaS SaaS •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS
59. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application IaaS PaaS SaaS •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS AWS, Rackspace, ... Heroku, Appfog, ... BaasBox
60. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS IaaS PaaS AWS, Rackspace, ... Heroku, Appfog, ...
61. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application PaaS
62. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Which language? •Which DB? PaaS Questions
63. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Heroku
64. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Ruby •Python •Java •Scala •Closure •Node.js Languages
65. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Postgres •MySQL (via addon) •MongoDB (via addon) DBs
66. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Essentially a process •Web •Worker •# of dynos + db profile + addons = backend cost Dyno
67. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application IaaS PaaS •OS •Middleware •Runtime •Data •Application
68. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •OS •Middleware •Runtime •Data •Application IaaS
69. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Which OS? •Which language? •Which DB? •How many machines? Questions
70. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Amazon Web Services
71. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •CDN •Storage •Networking •DBs •Services: email, queue managers •Con: cost estimation Amazon Web Services
72. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Buy a server •pick the hardware •install OS •rent space/bandwidth in a farm Good old way
73. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 BaaS
74. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Backend for mobile apps •Files, DB, key-value •API SDK •Push notifications •Analytics BaaS
75. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •User management •account creation/verification •Login with Twitter/Facebook •ACL BaaS
76. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Time to market •Focus on the front end BaaS
77. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •cloudmine.me •stackmob.com •kinvey.com •parse.com •sencha.io Services
78. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Blood pact
79. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 BaasBox
80. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •No application server •No database server •JVM is the only requirement •Runs everywhere BaasBox
81. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •User management •ACL •Collections •Files •Push notifications BaasBox
82. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Download •./start BaasBox
83. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 BaasBox on CentOS yum install java-1.7.0-openjdk ! scp baasbox-xx.tar.gz user@host:remotepath ! cd remotepath ! ./start
84. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 PizzaBox BaasBox Pizzaiolo Clients You
85. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 PizzaBox
86. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Asset curl --form file=@margherita.png --form name=margherita -H X-BB-SESSION:SESSION_TOKEN http://localhost:9000/admin/asset
87. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Menu curl -d "name=menu&meta=[ { "name": "Margherita", "id" : "margherita", "price": 5, "ingredients": "Pizza con pomodoro e mozzarella" }, ... ]" -H X-BB-SESSION:SESSION_TOKEN http://localhost:9000/admin/asset
88. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Create order curl -d "{ "list": {"margherita": 2,"quattrostagioni": 2}, "user": { "name": "Cesare", "surname": "Rocchi", "address": "Via delle vie 12, Roma", ... }, "time": "2013-01-02Z14:21", "total": 12.5, }" -H X-BB-SESSION:SESSION_TOKEN http://localhost:9000/document/orders
89. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 DearDiary
90. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 DearDiary
91. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 SignUp private void signupWithBaasBox(boolean newUser) { ! BaasUser user = BaasUser.withUserName(mUsername); user.setPassword(mPassword); ! if (newUser) { mSignupOrLogin=user.signup(onComplete); } else { mSignupOrLogin=user.login(onComplete); } }
92. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 SignUp [BAAUser authenticateUsername:self.loginUsernameField.text withPassword:self.loginPasswordField.text completionHandler:^(BOOL success, NSError *error) { if (success) { NSLog(@"user authenticated"); } else { NSLog(@"error in logging in %@", error); } }];
93. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 DearDiary [SMPost getObjectsWithParams:nil completion:^(NSArray *objects, NSError *error) { if (error == nil) { self.posts = [objects mutableCopy]; [self.tableView reloadData]; } else { NSLog(@"error %@“, error); } }];
94. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 DearDiary private void refreshDocuments(){ ! if(!mDialog.isShowing())mDialog.show(); ! mRefresh =BaasDocument.fetchAll("memos",onRefresh); ! }
95. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Demo
96. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Now we are working on •Service •Server side code •Business analytics
97. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Grid 1. Have I to manage it? 2. What’s the synch model? 3. Who is to pay? 4. Impact on UX? 5. Lock-in?
98. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Contacts http://www.baasbox.com twitter.com/baasbox facebook.com/baasbox github.com/baasbox info@baasbox.com
99. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Contacts http://www.studiomagnolia.com twitter.com/_funkyboy http://alpha.app.net/funkyboy cesare@studiomagnolia.com