Look ma, no server! Creating mobile apps on backend-as-a-service platforms

Transcript

1. CREATING MOBILE APPS IN
   A BACKEND-AS-A-SERVICE WORLD
   LOOK, MA: NO SERVER!
   CLAY SMITH, NEW RELIC - DEVFEST VIENNA 2015
   @SMITHCLAY
   

   View Slide

2. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
   ABOUT ME
   Web App
   Dev
   Mobile Dev
   burritos
   Dev
   Advocate @
   New Relic
   

   View Slide

3. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
   AGENDA
   THE 2015 APP MODERN BACKENDS INTRO TO BAAS EVENT-DRIVEN BAAS PERFORMANCE
   

   View Slide

4. THE 2015 APP
   

   View Slide

5. MULTIPLATFORM
   

   View Slide

6. INTERNATIONAL
   

   View Slide

7. COOLSENSORS
   

   View Slide

8. SUPERRESPONSIVE
   

   View Slide

9. CONNECTED
   CC flickr.com/photos/hernanpc/18954719651
   

   View Slide

10. YEAR
    EXABYTES
    MOBILE DATA*
    *Google "mobile data growth" for a real graph.
    

    View Slide

11. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    COMMON APP NETWORK REQUESTS
    ▸ API Requests (3rd-party or internal)
    ▸ Analytics
    ▸ Static Content
    ▸ Images
    ▸ Video
    ▸ Audio
    CC0 stock.tookapic.com/photos/20932
    

    View Slide

12. PUSHNOTIFICATIONS
    

    View Slide

13. APP BACKENDS
    MAKING YOUR MOBILE DREAMS A REALITY
    

    View Slide

14. REMEMBER THESE?
    CC flickr.com/photos/dominichargreaves/2345869796
    

    View Slide

15. IAAS, AT YOUR
    SERVICE
    CC flickr.com/photos/doctorow/14574108306
    IT'S ALL IN THE CLOUD
    

    View Slide

16. LOOK MA, NO SERVER
    NOT SHOWN IN PREVIOUS DIAGRAM
    ▸ Security
    ▸ Server Provisioning
    ▸ Deploying
    ▸ Monitoring and Alerting
    ▸ Scaling
    

    View Slide

17. PAAS, PLEASE
    DON'T WANT TO WORRY ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE?
    

    View Slide

18. git push PaaS master
    MAGIC!
    

    View Slide

19. MOST OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE
    VIRTUES OF A PROGRAMMER...
    LAZINESS, IMPATIENCE, AND HUBRIS
    Larry Wall, creator of Perl
    LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    

    View Slide

20. WE ARE MOVING TO
    VERY HIGH-LEVEL
    ABSTRACTIONS FOR
    APP BACKENDS
    CC flickr.com/photos/veljovic/15738348069
    

    View Slide

21. VERY HIGH-LEVEL
    ABSTRACTIONS != EASIER
    

    View Slide

22. BACKEND AS A SERVICE
    A THING SINCE ~2011
    

    View Slide

23. YE OLDE BACKEND
    

    View Slide

24. TRADITIONAL VERY SIMPLIFIED WEB APP ARCHITECTURE
    

    View Slide

25. NEW STUFF
    BACKEND AS A SERVICE
    

    View Slide

26. "A MODEL FOR
    PROVIDING...
    DEVELOPERS WITH A
    WAY TO LINK THEIR APP
    TO BACKEND CLOUD
    STORAGE AND APIS."
    Mobile BaaS: Wikipedia Definition
    CC flickr.com/photos/hrathmann/19646314070
    

    View Slide

27. STORAGE
    

    View Slide

28. SINGLESIGNON
    

    View Slide

29. FANCYCONSOLES
    

    View Slide

30. MULTIPLATFORM
    

    View Slide

31. CLIENTLIBRARIES
    

    View Slide

32. PUSHNOTIFICATIONS
    

    View Slide

33. REALTIMESTUFF
    

    View Slide

34. SECURITY?
    

    View Slide

35. THE BAAS BIG 3*
    

    View Slide

36. PARSE (FACEBOOK)
    FOUNDED IN 2011, ACQUIRED IN 2013.
    

    View Slide

37. FIREBASE (GOOGLE)
    FOUNDED 2011, ACQUIRED 2014. REALTIME FOCUS.
    

    View Slide

38. CLOUDKIT (APPLE)
    "ICLOUD FOR DEVELOPERS" - DONE THE APPLE WAY
    

    View Slide

39. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    ALSO WORTH MENTIONING
    ▸ Apache Usergrid (OSS)
    ▸ Amazon Mobile Hub (now in beta)
    ▸ Azure Mobile Web Services (Microsoft)
    ▸ Kivney, Synaco, Apigee, Appcelerator (and many more).
    

    View Slide

40. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    HOW BAAS PROVIDERS MATURE (TYPICALLY)
    DATABASE AUTHENTICATION EVERYTHING ELSE
    

    View Slide

41. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    IMPORTANT BAAS METRICS ($)
    ▸ Number of requests per minute
    ▸ Data transfer (network I/O)
    ▸ Storage cost (persistence)
    ▸ Database
    ▸ Assets (Images, Audio, Video, etc)
    

    View Slide

42. PRACTICAL BAAS
    FOR A SIMPLE APP
    LET'S SEE SOME CODE!
    CC flickr.com/photos/hackny/6890140478
    

    View Slide

43. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED - ANDROID
    dependencies {
    compile 'com.parse.bolts:bolts-android:1.+'
    compile 'com.parse:parse-android:1.+'
    }
    dependencies {
    compile 'com.firebase:firebase-client-android:2.4.0+'
    }
    FIREBASE
    PARSE
    firebase.com/docs/android/quickstart.html
    parse.com/apps/quickstart
    

    View Slide

44. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    SOME INITIALIZATION REQUIRED - INITIALIZATION (ANDROID)
    Parse.initialize(this, "api-key", "client-key"); // Activity#onCreate
    Firebase.setAndroidContext(this); // Activity#onCreate
    Firebase myFirebaseRef = new Firebase("https://my-app.firebaseio.com/");
    FIREBASE
    PARSE
    firebase.com/docs/android/quickstart.html
    parse.com/apps/quickstart
    

    View Slide

45. AUTH
    MORE THAN USER + PASS
    CC flickr.com/photos/111692634@N04/11406965045
    

    View Slide

46. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    SINGLE-SIGN ON SUPPORT
    Type Parse Firebase CloudKit
    Facebook Y Y N
    Google N Y N
    Username/Pass Y Y N
    Anonymous Y Y Y*
    Twitter Y Y N
    Github N Y N
    iCloud N N Y
    OAuth Y Y N
    * Based on publicly available documentation as of 11/6/2015.
    

    View Slide

47. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    ANONYMOUS AUTH - ANDROID
    ParseUser.enableAutomaticUser();
    ParseUser.getCurrentUser(); // Exists!
    // ref is a reference to your Firebase URL
    ref.authAnonymously(new Firebase.AuthResultHandler() { // ... } );
    FIREBASE
    PARSE
    firebase.com/docs/android/quickstart.html
    parse.com/apps/quickstart
    

    View Slide

48. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    PARSE COOLNESS: CONVERTING AN ANONYMOUS USER TO REAL USER
    ParseAnonymousUtils.isLinked(ParseUser.getCurrentUser())
    

    View Slide

49. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    USERNAME/PASSWORD AUTH - ANDROID
    ParseUser user = new ParseUser();
    user.setUsername("username");
    user.setPassword("pass");
    user.setEmail("email@example.com");
    user.signUpInBackground();
    // ref is a reference to your Firebase URL
    ref.createUser("email@example.com", "pass",
    new Firebase.ValueResultHandler>() { // callbacks });
    FIREBASE
    PARSE
    

    View Slide

50. DATA
    PERSIST ALL THE THINGS
    CC flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/9990024683
    

    View Slide

51. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    YESTERSPRINT: AN EXAMPLE SPRINT RETROSPECTIVE APP
    

    View Slide

52. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    PARSE - CREATING AND FETCHING
    ParseObject newRetro = new ParseObject("Retro");

    newRetro.put("createdBy", ParseUser.getCurrentUser());
    // Creates a retrospective to many users relationship.

    newRetro.getRelation("members").add(ParseUser.getCurrentUser());

    newRetro.saveInBackground();
    ParseQuery query = ParseQuery.getQuery("Retro");

    query.whereEqualTo("members", ParseUser.getCurrentUser());

    // Execute query in background thread

    query.findInBackground(new FindCallback() { // ... } );
    FETCHING
    CREATING
    

    View Slide

53. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    FIREBASE - CREATING AND FETCHING
    Firebase retroRef = ref.child("retros");
    Map newRetro = new HashMap();
    newRetro.put("createdBy", "clay");
    retroRef.push().setValue(newRetro);
    FETCHING
    CREATING
    ref.child("user/clay/retros").addValueEventListener(new ValueEventListener() {
    @Override
    public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot snap) { }
    @Override public void onCancelled(FirebaseError error) { }
    });
    

    View Slide

54. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    REALTIME EVENTS SIDEBAR - HOW DO THEY DO IT?
    ▸ CloudKit: Uses Apple Push Notifications
    ▸ Firebase: Uses websockets
    ▸ Parse: good old fashioned HTTP.
    

    View Slide

55. ALL FIREBASE DATABASE DATA IS
    STORED AS JSON OBJECTS. THERE ARE
    NO TABLES OR RECORDS.
    firebase.com/docs/android/guide/understanding-data.html
    LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    

    View Slide

56. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    OFFLINE READY
    Parse.enableLocalDatastore(this); // must be called before Parse.initialize()!
    retrospective.saveEventually(); // when the network is available, it will save.
    FIREBASE
    PARSE
    // Automagic... mostly.
    Firebase.getDefaultConfig().setPersistenceEnabled(true); // between app restarts
    

    View Slide

57. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    UI HELPERS TO MAKE IT SUPER EASY
    ▸ ParseQueryAdapter -
    Connects a list of parse data
    to an Android ListView
    (ParseUI-Android)
    ▸ FirebaseListAdapter - Same
    for Firebase (FirebaseUI-
    Android)
    CC flickr.com/photos/groovenite
    

    View Slide

58. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    NOT DISCUSSED (FURTHER READING SUGGESTED)
    ▸ Authorization - who gets what
    ▸ Geo data (both Parse and Firebase)
    ▸ Push Notifications (Parse only)
    ▸ Analytics (Parse only)
    

    View Slide

59. EVENT-DRIVEN BAAS
    

    View Slide

60. WEBHOOKS ARE
    "USER-DEFINED HTTP
    CALLBACKS"
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webhook
    CC https://www.flickr.com/photos/versageek
    

    View Slide

61. AN EVENT IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN
    THE STATE OF THE UNIVERSE.
    K. Mani Chandy, "Towards a Theory of Events"
    LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    

    View Slide

62. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    WEBHOOKS: EVERYTHING BECOMES EVENT-DRIVEN
    

    View Slide

63. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    PARSE: WEBHOOKS AND CLOUD CODE
    ▸ webhooks: a URL gets hit when
    beforeSave and afterSave gets
    called on a ParseObject
    ▸ Cloud Code: custom
    endpoints, triggers.
    ▸ Static hosting and Heroku
    support, too.
    CC flickr.com/photos/infomastern/14719723237
    

    View Slide

64. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    FIREBASE EVENT-DRIVEN APPROACH USING THEIR NODE.JS CLIENT
    ▸ Node.js server listens for events using the firebase node
    library, then *does other stuff*
    ▸ More code, but still really useful.
    ▸ https://github.com/firebase/flashlight (Firebase Elastic Search)
    ▸ New: Google Cloud modules.
    

    View Slide

65. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    AMAZON WEB SERVICES: "CLOUD LOGIC" IN MOBILE HUB (IN BETA)
    ▸ Exposes AWS Lambda Functions easily to mobile apps.
    ▸ Lambda: event driven, integrates with other major AWS
    services.
    ▸ Write once, run on multiple platforms.
    ▸ Current (late 2015) languages: node.js, python, java.
    

    View Slide

66. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    PARSE - RUNNING A CLOUD CODE FUNCTION (JAVA/ANDROID)
    ParseCloud.callFunctionInBackground("myAwesomeFn", params, new FunctionCallback() {
    public void done(Object object, ParseException e) {
    // TODO: Handle response
    }
    }
    LOOK MA, NO BACKEND!
    

    View Slide

67. PERFORMANCE
    HOW BAAS DOES IN REAL LIFE...
    CC flickr.com/photos/monthouphoto
    

    View Slide

68. LAZY BENCHMARKING
    

    View Slide

69. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    TEST: SET {"FOO":"BAR"} IN PARSE OR FIREBASE'S DATABASE
    ▸ Track how long it takes to get a success response for the
    server.
    ▸ Run the operation in JavaScript, track with a simple timer.
    ▸ Run the code in Singapore, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Dublin,
    Frankfurt, Washington DC and San Francisco.
    

    View Slide

70. LOOK MA, NO SERVER1
    NEW RELIC SYNTHETICS SCRIPT (I.E. SELENIUM)
    WEB PAGE
    (USING BAAS
    JAVASCRIPT
    SDKS)
    CREATE OBJ
    PARSE API
    FIREBASE API
    PUSH
    INSIGHTS (NRDB = METRICS DATABASE)
    CREATE OBJ
    SYNTHETICS
    (RUNS A WEB PAGE IN
    DIFFERENT PLACES)
    

    View Slide

71. MILLISECONDS
    

    View Slide

72. MILLISECONDS
    

    View Slide

73. TL;DR: BE AWARE OF
    GEOGRAPHY
    

    View Slide

74. LOOK MA, NO SERVER!
    FREE PLAN COMPARISON (IT'S DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND)
    Type Parse Firebase* CloudKit*
    File Transfer 2 TB 100 GB 2 GB
    File Storage 20 GB 1 GB 10 GB
    Database Storage 20 GB 1 GB 100 MB
    Requests per sec 30 100 40
    * Based on publicly available documentation as of 11/6/2015. CloudKit limits grow with active user count.
    

    View Slide

75. TO BAAS OR NOT TO
    BAAS?
    

    View Slide

76. QUESTIONS?
    CLAY SMITH, NEW RELIC
    @SMITHCLAY
    

    View Slide