Choosing a backend for your mobile app

Choosing a backend for your mobile app
Swipe conference 2012

Although usually not noticed by the final users, the backend is a very important piece in the context of a mobile application. It is the place where data are stored and organized.

A few years ago building a back-end meant renting some hardware or virtual machine, setting up the operative system, configuring the server, database, storage and writing the back-end logic. In case the app had success, you had also to take care of scaling. While this is still possible, nowadays great services that allow to quickly setup a back-end are growing and spreading.

In this talk I will provide an overview of the services which allow developers to integrate their mobile applications with back-end functionalities enabling features like back-up, synchronization and data exchange. The goal is to illustrate different services and frameworks ranging from mobile-specific, to managed, to generic ones, helping the developers to make an informed choice about the most suitable solution for their applications' needs.

Transcript

1. studiomagnolia.com Cesare Rocchi Choosing a backend for your mobile application _funkyboy Tuesday, September 11, 12
2. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Outline •Needs when choosing a backend •Features •Overview of different approaches Tuesday, September 11, 12
3. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who am I? Tuesday, September 11, 12
4. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 UX designer and developer Tuesday, September 11, 12
5. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 mnml Tuesday, September 11, 12
6. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 < is > Tuesday, September 11, 12
7. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 execution matters Tuesday, September 11, 12
8. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 lean approach Tuesday, September 11, 12
9. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who are you? Tuesday, September 11, 12
10. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Quick version Tuesday, September 11, 12
11. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 It’s complicated Tuesday, September 11, 12
12. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Thank you! Tuesday, September 11, 12
13. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •twitter.com/_funkyboy •app.net/funkyboy •cesare@studiomagnolia.com •http://studiomagnolia.com Tuesday, September 11, 12
14. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 App Target •Not apps where mobile is “just a view” •Apps which are inherently mobile •Personal usage •Backup or synchronization Tuesday, September 11, 12
15. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Examples Tuesday, September 11, 12
16. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 dayoneapp.com Tuesday, September 11, 12
17. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 culturedcode.com/things Tuesday, September 11, 12
18. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 iawriter.com Tuesday, September 11, 12
19. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Questions Tuesday, September 11, 12
20. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it? Tuesday, September 11, 12
21. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it? •At which level? •Am I able to do it? •Have I time to learn? •Is it worth it? Tuesday, September 11, 12
22. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? Tuesday, September 11, 12
23. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? •Does it match my goals? •Can I change it if needed? •What about protocols? Tuesday, September 11, 12
24. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to pay? Tuesday, September 11, 12
25. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to pay? Tuesday, September 11, 12
26. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who is to pay? Tuesday, September 11, 12
27. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX? Tuesday, September 11, 12
28. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX? •Does it break any flow? •How frequently? •is it “ok” with that? Tuesday, September 11, 12
29. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security? Tuesday, September 11, 12
30. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security? •How data are transferred? •Is encryption implemented? Tuesday, September 11, 12
31. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Options •iCloud •Dropbox •Parse & co. •Custom Tuesday, September 11, 12
32. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What is iCloud? Tuesday, September 11, 12
33. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 6028 Startown Rd, Maiden, NC Tuesday, September 11, 12
34. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Stores and synchs stuff Tuesday, September 11, 12
35. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 It just works ... Tuesday, September 11, 12
36. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 ... when it works. Tuesday, September 11, 12
37. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Tuesday, September 11, 12
38. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Tuesday, September 11, 12
39. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 seamlessness can be a limit Tuesday, September 11, 12
40. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Questions •Have I to manage it? •What’s the synch model? •Who’s to pay? •Impact on UX? •Security? Tuesday, September 11, 12
41. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it? •Learn the API •Apple takes care of •installation •scalability •security Tuesday, September 11, 12
42. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? Tuesday, September 11, 12
43. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Daemon •Monitors changes •Works on metadata •Shreds files •Supports conflict resolution Tuesday, September 11, 12
44. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Special folder, synched Tuesday, September 11, 12
45. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Synched when “appropriate” Tuesday, September 11, 12
46. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Appropriate •Which OS? •Which connection? •Battery status? Tuesday, September 11, 12
47. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Types of Information •Key-value •Documents •CoreData Tuesday, September 11, 12
48. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who’s to pay? •The final user •Your app will use his quota •5Gb for free Tuesday, September 11, 12
49. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX? Tuesday, September 11, 12
50. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX? •User expectation •No control on upload •“Why isn’t there?” •Open the app to synch •User turns off iCloud? Tuesday, September 11, 12
51. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4865?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US Tuesday, September 11, 12
52. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security •Using the same API •Mostly safe •But ... Tuesday, September 11, 12
53. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security •Using the same API •Mostly safe •But ... Tuesday, September 11, 12
54. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Notes •> iOS5 “Documents” folder is backed up •You can prevent files from being backed up •App might be rejected https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1719/_index.html Tuesday, September 11, 12
55. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Dropbox Tuesday, September 11, 12
56. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Dropbox •File-based •Special folder •Synchronized across devices •Supports other platforms Tuesday, September 11, 12
57. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it? •Already set up •installation •bandwidth •scalability Tuesday, September 11, 12
58. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? •Desktop synchronizes continuously •Mobile apps have to query the backend •HTTP API •SDKs for iOS, Android, Ruby, Python Tuesday, September 11, 12
59. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? •No conflict resolution (revision #) •Data serialization is up to you •No file shredding Tuesday, September 11, 12
60. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who’s to pay? •The final user •Your app will use his disk quota •2 Gb for free Tuesday, September 11, 12
61. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Impact on UX? •Authentication the first time •User might modify files •Control on the upload Tuesday, September 11, 12
62. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security https://www.dropbox.com/help/27/en Tuesday, September 11, 12
63. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security •Https required •3rd party apps are “sandboxed” •Apps are reviewed Tuesday, September 11, 12
64. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Similar •box.net •sugarsync.com •google drive •amazon S3 Tuesday, September 11, 12
65. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Parse Tuesday, September 11, 12
66. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Parse •Backend for mobile apps •Files, key-value •API for iOS, Android, Javascript and REST •Push notifications Tuesday, September 11, 12
67. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Parse •User management •account creation/verification •Login with Twitter/Facebook •ACL Tuesday, September 11, 12
68. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Have I to manage it? •Just learn the API •Parse takes care of •Installation •Bandwidth •Scalability Tuesday, September 11, 12
69. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 What’s the synch model? •ORM approach on steroids •No need to serialize/deserialize Tuesday, September 11, 12
70. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 steroids? Tuesday, September 11, 12
71. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 PFObject *note = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Note"]; [note setObject:@"Ciao" forKey:@"title"]; [note setObject:@"Note on Parse" forKey:@"content"]; [note save]; //[note saveInBackground]; //[note saveInBackgroundWithBlock:^( ){ }]; //[note saveEventually]; <- steroids Tuesday, September 11, 12
72. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 PFObject *note = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Note"]; [note setObject:@"Ciao" forKey:@"title"]; [note setObject:@"Note on parse" forKey:@"content"]; PFObject *myTag = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Tag"]; [myTag setObject:@"important" forKey:@"tagName"]; // Add a relation [note setObject:myTag forKey:@"tag"]; // Saves both [note saveInBackground]; Tuesday, September 11, 12
73. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who’s to pay? •You •Pay as you use •Limit of calls/mo Tuesday, September 11, 12
74. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Who’s to pay? •You •Pay as you use •Limit of calls/mo Tuesday, September 11, 12
75. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Security •Uses SSL to transmit •ACL is up to you •DBs are snapshotted every 30min •You own data Tuesday, September 11, 12
76. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Similar services •cloudmine.me •stackmob.com •kinvey.com •buddy.com Tuesday, September 11, 12
77. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Custom Tuesday, September 11, 12
78. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Tuesday, September 11, 12
79. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 IaaS PaaS SaaS Tuesday, September 11, 12
80. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS •Data •Application IaaS PaaS SaaS Tuesday, September 11, 12
81. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application IaaS PaaS SaaS •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS Tuesday, September 11, 12
82. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application IaaS PaaS •Data •Application •Runtime •Middleware •OS Tuesday, September 11, 12
83. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •Data •Application PaaS Tuesday, September 11, 12
84. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 PaaS Questions •Which language? •Which DB? Tuesday, September 11, 12
85. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Heroku Tuesday, September 11, 12
86. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Languages •Ruby •Python •Java •Scala •Closure •Node.js Tuesday, September 11, 12
87. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 DBs •Postgres •MySQL (via addon) •MongoDB (via addon) Tuesday, September 11, 12
88. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Dyno •Essentially a process •Web •Worker •# of dynos + db profile + addons = backend cost Tuesday, September 11, 12
89. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •OS •Middleware •Runtime •Data •Application •Data •Application IaaS PaaS Tuesday, September 11, 12
90. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •OS •Middleware •Runtime •Data •Application IaaS Tuesday, September 11, 12
91. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Questions •Which OS? •Which language? •Which DB? •How many machines? Tuesday, September 11, 12
92. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Amazon Web Services Tuesday, September 11, 12
93. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Amazon Web Services •CDN •Storage •Networking •DBs •Services: email, queue managers Tuesday, September 11, 12
94. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Good old way •Buy a server •pick the hardware •install OS •rent space/bandwidth in a farm Tuesday, September 11, 12
95. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Server side frameworks Tuesday, September 11, 12
96. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Ruby •http://rubyonrails.org •http://www.sinatrarb.com •http://www.padrinorb.com Tuesday, September 11, 12
97. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Python •https://www.djangoproject.com •http://www.pylonsproject.org •http://flask.pocoo.org Tuesday, September 11, 12
98. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Node.js •http://expressjs.com •http://geddyjs.org •http://flatironjs.org •http://railwayjs.com •http://towerjs.org Tuesday, September 11, 12
99. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 ORM •ActiveRecord •DataMapper •Sequel •SQLAlchemy Tuesday, September 11, 12
100. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Client side frameworks Tuesday, September 11, 12
101. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Networking •AFNetworking •MKNetworkKit •RestKit •DataKit Tuesday, September 11, 12
102. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 To have a cake ... Tuesday, September 11, 12
103. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Use a box mix •Choose between flavors •Add basic ingredients •Bake Tuesday, September 11, 12
104. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Do it from scratch •Choose all the elements •Preparation •Bake Tuesday, September 11, 12
105. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 In conclusion ... Tuesday, September 11, 12
106. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 “You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometime, you just might find ...” Tuesday, September 11, 12
107. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 Rolling Stones “You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometime, you just might find ...” Tuesday, September 11, 12
108. SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012 •twitter.com/_funkyboy •app.net/funkyboy •http://studiomagnolia.com •http://www.icloudfordevelopers.com Tuesday, September 11, 12