This document discusses how the speaker used to develop websites by focusing heavily on an application server that handled all database access, HTML generation, and other tasks, while the client-side was limited. Now, with improved client-side capabilities and the rise of mobile apps, the speaker focuses on building APIs with Node.js frameworks like Express and LoopBack that allow clients to directly access and render data without heavy server-side processing. The speaker demonstrates how to quickly create RESTful APIs and applications with LoopBack.

1. Rapid API Development
with LoopBack/StrongLoop
Raymond Camden

2. Rabid API Development

3. Who am I?
Developer Advocate for IBM
StrongLoop, Bluemix, Cordova/
PhoneGap, Node, and web stuff in general
Blogging at raymondcamden.com
Tweeting at @raymondcamden

6. https://unsplash.com/pjrvs

7. How I did web sites (old days)

8. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server

9. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)

10. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited

11. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:

12. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"

13. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"
Server: "I'll ask the database for the list."

14. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"
Server: "I'll ask the database for the list."
Server: "I'll take that list and generate a lot of HTML to render it"

15. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"
Server: "I'll ask the database for the list."
Server: "I'll take that list and generate a lot of HTML to render it"
Server: "I'll wrap that display in some site template with dynamic junk"

16. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"
Server: "I'll ask the database for the list."
Server: "I'll take that list and generate a lot of HTML to render it"
Server: "I'll wrap that display in some site template with dynamic junk"
Server: "I'll return a big pile of HTML to you"

17. How I did web sites (old days)
Focused heavily on an app server
App server did everything (database access, generating HTML, etc)
Client-side was really limited
Ex:
Client: "I need a list of cats"
Server: "I'll ask the database for the list."
Server: "I'll take that list and generate a lot of HTML to render it"
Server: "I'll wrap that display in some site template with dynamic junk"
Server: "I'll return a big pile of HTML to you"

18. How I do web sites now...

19. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!

20. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!

21. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls

22. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls
Ex:

23. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls
Ex:
Client: "Give me a list of cats"

24. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls
Ex:
Client: "Give me a list of cats"
Server: "Here is a list in raw JSON"

25. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls
Ex:
Client: "Give me a list of cats"
Server: "Here is a list in raw JSON"
Client: "Thanks, you're awesome, I'll render it"

26. How I do web sites now...
The client doesn't suck anymore!
Mobile is everywhere - apps, apps, and more apps!
My server just responds to API calls
Ex:
Client: "Give me a list of cats"
Server: "Here is a list in raw JSON"
Client: "Thanks, you're awesome, I'll render it"

27. The Server in 2016

28. The Server in 2016
Smaller

29. The Server in 2016
Smaller
Simpler

30. The Server in 2016
Smaller
Simpler
Just an API provider

31. The Server in 2016
Smaller
Simpler
Just an API provider
Not some big machine I rent

32. "Typical" Setup (Then)
Apache
Adobe ColdFusion
MySQL
Minimal JavaScript on the client

33. "Typical" Setup (Now)
Node.js
Express
Cloudant/MongoDB/etc
JavaScript on the server, client,
cloud, breakfast, etc

34. A confession...

35. Credit: https://flic.kr/p/9wXA3J

36. Express

37. Express
No boilerplate web server crap

38. Express
No boilerplate web server crap
Focused on rapidly building a web site/app

39. LoopBack

40. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs

41. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs
Rapid creation of Models and RESTAPIs

42. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs
Rapid creation of Models and RESTAPIs
Simple ORM system for CRUD

43. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs
Rapid creation of Models and RESTAPIs
Simple ORM system for CRUD
Support for JavaScript apps (Angular)

44. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs
Rapid creation of Models and RESTAPIs
Simple ORM system for CRUD
Support for JavaScript apps (Angular)
Very detailed/configurable security policies

45. LoopBack
Open source framework designed for APIs
Rapid creation of Models and RESTAPIs
Simple ORM system for CRUD
Support for JavaScript apps (Angular)
Very detailed/configurable security policies
loopback.io

46. StrongLoop

47. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack

48. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack
Deployment

49. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack
Deployment
Management

50. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack
Deployment
Management
Monitoring

51. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack
Deployment
Management
Monitoring
Debugging

52. StrongLoop
Graphical tool for working with LoopBack
Deployment
Management
Monitoring
Debugging
strongloop.com

53. Getting Started

54. Installation
Requires npm (Node Package Manager)
Install Node.js (nodejs.org)
npm install –g strongloop
CLI: slc

56. Creating an Application

57. Creating an Application
slc loopback

58. Creating an Application
slc loopback
Follow the prompts

59. Creating an Application
slc loopback
Follow the prompts
Define models

60. Creating an Application
slc loopback
Follow the prompts
Define models
Run the application

62. Enter the StrongLoop

63. Enter the StrongLoop
Runs on top of LoopBack

64. Enter the StrongLoop
Runs on top of LoopBack
Does a heck of a lot more than I'm
showing today

65. Enter the StrongLoop
Runs on top of LoopBack
Does a heck of a lot more than I'm
showing today
To be clear - this is optional

66. –Bobby Tables
“I should just put a cat picture here.”

67. Then what?

68. Then what?
Setup a datasource

69. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server

70. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save

71. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save
Setup security

72. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save
Setup security
Add custom methods

73. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save
Setup security
Add custom methods
Unique stuff (/api/Cats?filter[where][friendly]=true vs /friendlyCats)

74. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save
Setup security
Add custom methods
Unique stuff (/api/Cats?filter[where][friendly]=true vs /friendlyCats)
Customize how data is stored ("If friendly, change name to…")

75. Then what?
Setup a datasource
Cloudant, DB2, Memory, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQL Server
npm install loopback-connector-mongodb --save
Setup security
Add custom methods
Unique stuff (/api/Cats?filter[where][friendly]=true vs /friendlyCats)
Customize how data is stored ("If friendly, change name to…")
Build your client

76. –Bobby Tables
“I bet I could find a meme pic for this slide.”

77. Stuff I didn't cover

78. Stuff I didn't cover
Customize the heck out of it

79. Stuff I didn't cover
Customize the heck out of it
File support

80. Stuff I didn't cover
Customize the heck out of it
File support
Totally custom storage

81. Stuff I didn't cover
Customize the heck out of it
File support
Totally custom storage
API-based model

82. Stuff I didn't cover
Customize the heck out of it
File support
Totally custom storage
API-based model
All the performance/deployment/scaling/etc

83. More stuff I didn't cover

84. More stuff I didn't cover
API Connect

85. More stuff I didn't cover
API Connect
Node or Java

86. More stuff I didn't cover
API Connect
Node or Java
API Creation, Management, Security, etc

87. More stuff I didn't cover
API Connect
Node or Java
API Creation, Management, Security, etc
Available March 15

88. Wrap up
Zero to API in less than 5 minutes
REST compliant - if you hate the prototype, you can rebuild
https://docs.strongloop.com

89. Any questions?
You can email here: raymondcamden@gmail.com
You can follow me here: @raymondcamden (all serious stuff, no cat pics,
honest)
You can read my stuff here: www.raymondcamden.com (I won't lie - there's a
few cat pics here)