I really like a middle-tier functional API (ideally, Node) that can make requests as needed to a dumb backend that is really just a DB endpoint and then runs fu

I really like a middle-tier functional API (ideally, Node) that can make requests as needed to a dumb backend that is really just a DB endpoint and then runs functional computations (map/reduce) to marshall the data as configured for a view to a client. You don't have to hassle backend for expensive API updates on a heavyweight language that makes exposing an endpoint a pain in the ass (sorry, Java), and you get exactly the data you need in exactly the way you need.