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#1 is exactly what I'm working on right now; turns out there's a huge market for this sort of thing. We're using an API gateway (Axway/Oracle) to build an "API

#1 is exactly what I'm working on right now; turns out there's a huge market for this sort of thing. We're using an API gateway (Axway/Oracle) to build an "API Mullet" (all SOAP in the back, all REST in the front), and while I have some qualms with the tooling, the idea of an API gateway is very sound.

junto 11y ago
Out of interest SOAP services tend to be message/operation based, while REST is deliberately not this. How do you go about proxying REST style requests to a SOAP backend?
- femto113 11y ago
  Can't speak for the parent but having tackled similar efforts before I find that almost all APIs regardless of the implementation flavor (including SOAP and RPC) are readily understood as CRUD systems creating/reading/updating/deleting things), and the mapping from CRUD to REST is straightforward. In practice this generally means mapping from a SOAP call like `SetPostAuthor` to a REST call like `PUT /post/:post_id/author`. There are always some gnarly bits along the way, but the basic structure usually comes together pretty easily.
  - WaxProlix 11y ago
    Yup, petty much. If you're willing to be a little flexible in your application of RESTful concepts and are okay with your abstractions leaking a bit, it's not especially tough.
  - jacques_chester 11y ago
    That's the easy case. A harder case is when you have a "service" layer which also has a large collection of queries at various levels of abstraction. These map poorly into resources, where you want a single level of abstraction per resource. And they map badly to legacy consumers, who've grown comfortable to having a collection of special knobs and dials perfectly shaped for their exact needs.
ch 11y ago
"API Mullet" has got to be my favorite description of this type of system. Well done.
- WaxProlix 11y ago
  I can't take credit for it, alas. It was from an Axway blog post. It's sort of backwards too, if you think about it - business in the back and party in front.
  - Splendor 11y ago
    API Tellum?
  - robertfw 11y ago
    I don't know, the "front" is all business - ordered, structured, conforms to the standards. The back is a jumbled, messy, non conforming. It's a party back there.
curiousjorge 11y ago
do you have a website?
- WaxProlix 11y ago
  Not really, why do you ask?
oblio 11y ago
Heh, I never thought I'd meet an Axway product user on HN. What are you using? Gateway? Integrator?
- WaxProlix 11y ago
  Gateway, under oracle branding.
  - oblio 11y ago
    May God have mercy on your soul :o)
    - WaxProlix 11y ago
      ;_;
  - sytringy05 11y ago
    me too! (not the oracle version though) :( It does suck a bit, I've also sent Layer 7 into production which is just as bad as Axway. Typical Vendorware. The AWS Gateway is pretty enticing. Solves lots of the API Gateway problem space very quickly and super cheap. We could run our production instance for about $2 a month I reckon, vs a 6 figure sum for the vendor tech.
  - Natsu 11y ago
    Just curious, but why Oracle-branded rather than direct?
- Natsu 11y ago
  Gateway is pretty non-specific if you're talking Axway. It could mean XFB Gateway, Gateway Interchange or API Gateway... and I'm not even sure that's the whole list.
  - oblio 11y ago
    I meant XFB. It was the only product that was referred internally just as "Gateway". "Gateway Interchange" was "Interchange" and "API Gateway" was "API Gateway".
culo 11y ago
have you look at the open source KONG https://github.com/mashape/kong https://github.com/mashape/kong ?

junto 11y ago

Out of interest SOAP services tend to be message/operation based, while REST is deliberately not this. How do you go about proxying REST style requests to a SOAP backend?

femto113 11y ago
Can't speak for the parent but having tackled similar efforts before I find that almost all APIs regardless of the implementation flavor (including SOAP and RPC) are readily understood as CRUD systems creating/reading/updating/deleting things), and the mapping from CRUD to REST is straightforward. In practice this generally means mapping from a SOAP call like `SetPostAuthor` to a REST call like `PUT /post/:post_id/author`. There are always some gnarly bits along the way, but the basic structure usually comes together pretty easily.
- WaxProlix 11y ago
  Yup, petty much. If you're willing to be a little flexible in your application of RESTful concepts and are okay with your abstractions leaking a bit, it's not especially tough.
- jacques_chester 11y ago
  That's the easy case. A harder case is when you have a "service" layer which also has a large collection of queries at various levels of abstraction. These map poorly into resources, where you want a single level of abstraction per resource. And they map badly to legacy consumers, who've grown comfortable to having a collection of special knobs and dials perfectly shaped for their exact needs.

ch 11y ago

"API Mullet" has got to be my favorite description of this type of system. Well done.

WaxProlix 11y ago
I can't take credit for it, alas. It was from an Axway blog post. It's sort of backwards too, if you think about it - business in the back and party in front.
- Splendor 11y ago
  API Tellum?
- robertfw 11y ago
  I don't know, the "front" is all business - ordered, structured, conforms to the standards. The back is a jumbled, messy, non conforming. It's a party back there.

curiousjorge 11y ago

do you have a website?

WaxProlix 11y ago
Not really, why do you ask?

oblio 11y ago

Heh, I never thought I'd meet an Axway product user on HN. What are you using? Gateway? Integrator?

WaxProlix 11y ago
Gateway, under oracle branding.
- oblio 11y ago
  May God have mercy on your soul :o)
  - WaxProlix 11y ago
    ;_;
- sytringy05 11y ago
  me too! (not the oracle version though) :( It does suck a bit, I've also sent Layer 7 into production which is just as bad as Axway. Typical Vendorware. The AWS Gateway is pretty enticing. Solves lots of the API Gateway problem space very quickly and super cheap. We could run our production instance for about $2 a month I reckon, vs a 6 figure sum for the vendor tech.
- Natsu 11y ago
  Just curious, but why Oracle-branded rather than direct?
Natsu 11y ago
Gateway is pretty non-specific if you're talking Axway. It could mean XFB Gateway, Gateway Interchange or API Gateway... and I'm not even sure that's the whole list.
- oblio 11y ago
  I meant XFB. It was the only product that was referred internally just as "Gateway". "Gateway Interchange" was "Interchange" and "API Gateway" was "API Gateway".

culo 11y ago

have you look at the open source KONG https://github.com/mashape/kong https://github.com/mashape/kong ?