© 2016 APPCELERATOR, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
APIS & MBAAS: HOW TO EXTEND YOUR ARCHITECTURE FOR A MOBILE WORLD
5
3. A ROBUST CAPABILITY FOR BUILDING CUSTOM APIS
Of course not every API can be anticipated in advance. So the mobile
tier should also provide developers an easy way to create the ones
they need. An effective mechanism for building mobile APIs must
include:
Orchestration: the ability to leverage data from multiple data
sources, all within a single mobile-optimized API.
Optimization: boiling down the data set to its essential payload
size for consumption by a mobile app. For instance, if a traditional
web API returns 20 fields, the mobile variant might want only five.
Transformation: converting the data format from legacy styles
such as XML or SOAP to a mobile-optimized format such as JSON.
These API creation capabilities, coupled with ready access to enterprise
systems as described above, ensure developers and app teams don't
bog down in laborious integration work.
4. OFFLINE SUPPORT
Mobile devices can't count on a steady connection. In the event of a
disconnect, the app should continue to function offline.
5. SECURITY & GOVERNANCE
Plainly this new tier must fit within the enterprise's standing
requirements for governance and security, as well as address newer,
mobile-specific concerns such as the treatment of data both at-rest
and in-transit.
Well, yes and no. Mobile demands a new tier, just as the web did.
That much is clear. Attempts to get around this tier—for example via
direct client-to-source connections, or web services, or MEAPs—all come
up short. (See the appendix to this whitepaper for the reasons why.)
But the good news is you don't have to build this tier yourself. We've
already done it.
You're Telling
Me We Have to
Build A Whole
New Tier into Our
Architecture?
