Re: [Engine-devel] REST API calls from the GUI

Hi Libor, This issue came across in one of the conversations i had with UX folks, but since we didn't end up with any conclusion/road map (nor discussed it properly to hear other thoughts), this is a perfect place to start this discussion, Intuitively REST is a way to go with GWT AJAX calls --------------------------------------------------- pros ==== - api data objects can be reused by generating java classes (using jaxb) from the rest schema [1] - no backend logic will be duplicated as api abstracts the backend exposing RESTful collection/resources to operate on - development against api is "easy" as api describes itself in RSDL [2] cons ==== - implementing transport layer (HTTP) under GWT - implementing own j2xml/json/yaml/... marshalling layer - implementing own error handling mechanism - implementing REST callback mechanism (in GWT) - constant maintenance of the data objects generated from the api - painful for Java developers Java-SDK -------- pros ==== - abstracts transport layer (leaving developer in standard Java api) - typesafe code (no need to mess with XML bulks) - has own data objects to work with - abstracts authentication/authorization (kerberos/cookie/session/etc.) - since SDK is auto-generated, it can be easily extended with required features to support UI (such as callback infrastructure for instance) cons ==== - has to be converted in to Javascript (not sure what the impacts are in terms of AJAX calls/etc.) - probably much more cons that we're not aware of and will have to figure out with POC thoughts? [1] http[s]://server[:port]/api?schema [2] http[s]://server[:port]/api?rsdl On 02/12/2013 06:13 PM, Libor Spevak wrote: -- Michael Pasternak RedHat, ENG-Virtualization R&D