The document discusses the significance of offline-first mobile app development, emphasizing user expectations for seamless, always-on experiences. It highlights the limitations of traditional REST APIs in complex app environments and introduces Realm as a solution for efficient data management and synchronization in mobile applications. The document outlines Realm's features, including real-time sync and automatic conflict resolution, to enhance app performance and user satisfaction.

1. #MDBlocal
Ian Ward, Solutions Architect
REST-less Mobile Apps:
Why offline-first and sync matters
for your App and Business
CHICAGO

2. Great expectations
Users expect seamless app experiences

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Expectations are high for mobile apps
ALWAYS-ON EXPERIENCE
ANYWHERE
UX RESPONSIVENESS
ZERO-LATENCY FEEL
REALTIME
& COLLABORATIVE

6. #MDBLocal
Expectations are high for mobile apps
ALWAYS-ON EXPERIENCE
ANYWHERE
UX RESPONSIVENESS
ZERO-LATENCY FEEL
REALTIME
& COLLABORATIVE

7. #MDBLocal
Expectations are high for mobile apps
ALWAYS-ON EXPERIENCE
ANYWHERE
UX RESPONSIVENESS
ZERO-LATENCY FEEL
REALTIME
& COLLABORATIVE

8. #MDBLocal
Expectations are high for mobile apps
ALWAYS-ON EXPERIENCE
ANYWHERE
UX RESPONSIVENESS
ZERO-LATENCY FEEL
REALTIME &
COLLABORATIVE

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10. This is not easy
Beyond "Hello, World"

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Data exchange must be...
Reliable & resilient
Asynchronous
Fast & adaptive
Dev friendly

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Effort in the wrong places
Networking code
ORMs & sqlite
Mobile/server dev handoffs
Specialized tech

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A hostile environment...?
Mobile networks have variable latency
Connectivity can be lost at any moment
Apps can be shut down spontaneously

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Every stack is different

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Modern app development

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REST APIs

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REST APIs
Great for passive data sources
Not so great as backends for complex apps

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REST APIs
You are responsible for:
• Conflict resolution
• Recovery from network failure
• Type/schema validation
• Encoding and decoding objects

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Let Realm handle this

25. What is Realm?
A database and a company?
Sounds familiar.

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Open source, loved by devs
Realm's open-source on-device database:
100k+ developers using it
65% of Fortune 1000 using it
2B+ app installs
50k+ GitHub stars
18k+ Twitter followers
Active community involvement

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Open source, loved by devs
Designed and built for mobile
Just objects using idiomatic code
Live objects update automatically
The database is the data model

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3 components of Realm

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Realm Server
Real-time sync
Automatic conflict resolution
Flexible schema change support
Event handling

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Realm Mobile Database
Offline-first API
Object interface with
native relationship support
Change notifications
to keep UI up-to-date
Abstracts network handling

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Realm Sync
Implicit sync on write
Deterministic, strong eventually-consistent
conflict resolution
Efficient data exchange:
compressed, field-level diffs
Two modes: full and subset (query) sync

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A quick protocol comparison

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A new paradigm

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Realm replaces...
Custom code
REST offload
App-specific distributed systems development
Per-platform network stacks

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...with
Productivity: always-on for frontline workers
Efficiency: cross-platform and multi-language support
Revenue & retention: responsive, satisfying UX
Flexibility: any device, any time, anywhere

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Your classes are the models
import RealmSwift
// Define your models like regular Swift classes
class Dog: Object {
@objc dynamic var name = ""
@objc dynamic var age = 0
}
class Person: Object {
@objc dynamic var name = ""
@objc dynamic var picture: Data? = nil // optionals ok
let dogs = List<Dog>() // references to other objects ok
}

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Your classes are the models
// Use them like regular Swift objects
let myDog = Dog()
myDog.name = "Rex"
myDog.age = 1
print("name of dog: (myDog.name)")

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Objects are live
// Get the default Realm
let realm = try! Realm()
// Query Realm for all dogs less than 2 years old
let puppies = realm.objects(Dog.self).filter("age < 2")
puppies.count // => 0 because no dogs have been added to the Realm yet
// Persist your data easily
try! realm.write {
realm.add(myDog)
}
// Live objects reflect the actual state
puppies.count // => 1

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Future architecture

47. Use cases
REST-less mobile apps

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Digital transformation:
food services

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Digital transformation:
a major cruise vacation operator

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Digital transformation:
Cathay Pacific airline

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Digital transformation:
Health care provider with legacy APIs

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Digital transformation:
RapidFunnel sales app

53. Something in common
Avoid the communication breakdown

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Users expect seamless experiences

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Meeting these expectations is not easy

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Let Realm handle this

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59. THANK YOU

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Thank you!