Difference between revisions of "stoney core: REST API"

Revision as of 09:20, 16 October 2013

Web API

• The Web API will be implemented as a first-class citizen
  • It provides all the available functions and data to its clients
  • Serves as a data and business logic abstraction layer
• The web API will be implemented using HTTPS and REST principles
• The web API uses JSON as the primary data interchange format (serialization of data structures should be abstracted)
• Multiple authentication methods are possible
  • Web-Server assisted:
    • Basic HTTP-Auth
    • X509 Certificate based authentication
    • Kerberos
  • API key with shared secret
  • Access tokens
• versioned API (either via URI or the Accept-Header)
• All function/method calls have to be fully-nonblocking. If an expensive call has to be made to a backend system, the client needs to be provided with a status URI which can be checked for the current status
• Input validation must be performed for all data
• Meaningful error message will be presented to the client
• All API functions are to be documented
• The API will be based on existing, proved and tested open source modules and components, coming either from a framework are as stand alone implementations,

Why a Web API?

• Separation and abstraction of data and business logic
• Support for multiple clients with the same code base
  • HTML/JS/CSS for selfcare Web GUI
  • Command line interface for easy scripting
  • Integration into third party provisioning systems for resellers
• Automatic testing of functionality
• Base for responsive resp. Mobile First Web-Applications/-Design

Known issues/drawbacks:

• Validation of data happens twice: in the API and the client (javascript)

Yii related API modules

• On the Yii PHP Framework Homepage: Extensions tagged with "rest"
  • On the Yii PHP Framework Homepage: RestfullYii or on GitHub: RestfullYii
• On the Yii PHP Framework Homepage: Extensions tagged with "api"