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The main benefit of having an actual API layer is decoupling - between your front end clients and you back end service(s). This article seems to forget this maj
by room271 13y ago
The main benefit of having an actual API layer is decoupling - between your front end clients and you back end service(s). This article seems to forget this major point.
Decoupling has loads of benefits - for example, it gives separate development cycles, and in this case provides a point of scalability too - not all REST dbs cache brilliantly or aggressively enough for all use cases.
The point about using delayed syncing between client and server is separate. I can see how it can help in certain use cases (Google docs doesn't auto-save every single letter you type in for example I suspect, but probably bulks them up into a save every x seconds) but at other times this kind of strategy sounds like it will add unnecessary complication.
- vidarh 13y agoThe syncing adds unnecessary complication for desktop apps. For apps that needs to be accessible via mobile devices, it means the difference between whether or not your app is usable at all for a lot people. About 30%-50% of my commute is "dead zones" where I'm lucky to get GPRS speeds, and often have no signal at all... This is in one of the busiest commuting corridors in London.... Getting syncing right is tricky, though, because you do need to think through your possible conflict resolution issues in case the user moves from device to device, potentially while one or both devices lack a connection.