The Rise of BaaS

The Rise of BaaSA Utopia for Client-Side Developers

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1Saturday, March 15, 14

State of the UnionHow client-side applications are built today


CLIENT SIDE APP APIs

Web Server

Hosting Tooling

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS LOGIC

BUSINESS LOGIC

* your backend serves up data that your client-side code uses to render the different views* when your view needs to change the client-side code makes a request to the backend to re-render the view via xhr or websocket* talk to the backend to perform any action or to talk to third-party api's


• your backend serves up data that your client-side code uses to render the different views• when your view needs to change the client-side code makes a request to the backend to re-render the view via xhr or websocket• talk to the backend to perform any action or to talk to third-party api's

How often do you change your backend to support the needs

of your client side app?


How often must you upgrade your back-end to extend your application?

Constantly.* data and access controls (all the security) lives inside the backend so in order to extend your application you have to build out new routes


• data and access controls (all the security) lives inside the backend so in order to extend your application you have to build out new routes

The chasebegins


The communication nightmare kicks-off, the standard formation in most companies is that the client-side guys handle the users world and the back-end guys write the backend. Now, to make a change that the back-end doesn't support means that you have to coordinate with them to build out the feature.

So instead of focusing on building an amazing application for your customers, you end up spending time working with the back-end team and their schedule.

So what do we settle for?

APIs

DATA MANAGEMENT

Storage


The communication nightmare kicks-off

Every application has unique requirements

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

HOSTING

SECURITY


Blog:• Comments, users and posts• Each post has a user and many comments• You want to order the posts by date and select a range of them, perhaps you also want to filter by category• Similar, for comments, you want to order by date and select a range of them• For users, you need some sort of authentication and user management system• For creating posts, you want some type of user admin role

Let’s face reality, we’ve been reinventing the wheel

And it’s a fracking head-ache.


This approach has consequences


Repeating the same pattern over and over (creating an API to wrap the data structure) and creates additional risks


• Tightly coupled to the server





• Inflexible





• Inflexible• Expensive






• Incomplete






• Incomplete• Limited extensibility






• Incomplete• Limited extensibility• The list as you know,

does not end here



Imagine for a moment, the ultimate back-end.

One that could fuel any & every feature.


Ian Livingstone

@ianlivingstone

VP Engineering, GoInstant


We’re obsessive about this problem.


Started as co-browse, started transitioning BaaS because we found we needed every component, and none existed.

The question that keeps us up at night?


The question that keeps us up at night?

What would this ultimate backend look like?


The Vision: BaaS


The Vision: BaaSOne really really awesome round wheel, we all share.


CLIENT SIDE APP APIs

Web Server

Hosting Tooling

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

BaaS

BUSINESS LOGIC


Ok that looks awesome

Let’s make it a reality!


Connectivityweb sockets and xhr-polling we have the technology to create "full-duplex" connections even in older browsersthis gives us a mechanism for pushing data between server and client


• web sockets and xhr-polling we have the technology to create "full-duplex" connections even in older browsers• this gives us a mechanism for pushing data between server and client

Data Management* already exists just needs an API built for it on the client* support querying* transactions* all json types


• already exists just needs an API built for it on the client• support querying• transactions• all json type

User Management

* built on-top of the data model* standardized by convention * id * groups (or roles) built in* extensible to store extra data required


• built on-top of the data model• standardized by convention

• id• groups (or roles) built in

• extensible to store extra data required•

Security & Access Control* having data on client means there are a lot of security concerns* access control layer around who can read and write data based on their id and groups* input validation to guarantee data integrity* output sanitization to prevent different forms of injection attacks* enforced on server via schema of some form


• having data on client means there are a lot of security concerns• access control layer around who can read and write data based on their id and groups• input validation to guarantee data integrity• output sanitization to prevent different forms of injection attacks• enforced on server via schema of some form

Tooling* API is a black box you won’t control* tooling is *really* important* even with less surface area, there will still be bugs* so what type of tooling do we need?


Data Tooling• Ability to view the data• Ability to export and import backups• Ability to run arbitrary queries on the data• Audit logs for monitoring how data changes• Schema visualizer◦ Exploring how access controls are enforced◦ Testing input validation and output sanitization

• Available via Web UI and CLI


• Ability to view the data• Ability to export and import backups• Ability to run arbitrary queries on the data• Audit logs for monitoring how data changes

• Schema visualizer• Exploring how access controls are enforced

• Testing input validation and output sanitization• Available via Web UI and CLI

Organizational Tooling• Support for multiple collaborators• Support for multiple environments• Varying access controls based on environment• Ability to perform data migrations


• Support for multiple collaborators• Support for multiple environments• Varying access controls based on environment• Ability to perform data migrations

Hosting* to truly remove the operational burden, we also need to provide static application hosting* but it can't just host static html, css, js -- it needs to be living and breathing as well* schema provides access control to routes and redirect controls


• to truly remove the operational burden, we also need to provide static application hosting• but it can't just host static html, css, js -- it needs to be living and breathing as well• schema provides access control to routes and redirect controls

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

DATA MANAGEMENT

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

SECURITY

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

SECURITY

TOOLING

All together now


CONNECTIVITY

DATA MANAGEMENT

USER MANAGEMENT

SECURITY

TOOLING

HOSTING

All together now


We’ve found some obvious advantages



✓crowd source quality



✓crowd source quality✓specialization



✓crowd source quality✓specialization✓scale




✓ reliability




✓ reliability✓extensibility




✓ reliability✓extensibility✓ lower cost


“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

– Aristotle


Data Synchronization

* evolved from BaaS movement* user a modifies data, automatically updates the view of user b* possible because of the full-duplex connection and event subscriptions* subscribe to “change” events in data model* server pushes new data and client-side api trigger event listener* by leveraging this pattern you now have “real-time” out of the box, you don’t have to manage this! It’s given to you!* show code example of what this looks like!


Offline Support* now we have this mechanism for forcing our view to re-render* with this we can update the view of the application when the user reconnects (from sleep mode, or connects to wifi, etc.)* all the data transferred to the client from the server is cached so we can have read-only offline mode support out of the box*


Shared Integrations


In this utopia, how long would it take to build the application of your

users dreams.

Better question,how much time could you save?


Baas TodayThis utopia will be built,

one brick at a time


Talk through current solutions available

The Players


In Conclusion

• Client-side developers waste time and money on infrastructure

• BaaS will fundamentally change how client-side applications are developed

• The work is alreadyunder-way

• It’s an extension of the platform movement


Join the BaaS movement

An intersection of developer productivity and the platformization

revolution


Q&A


The Rise of BaaS

Technology

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