How to Create API-Centric Web Apps

As we are all aware, in today's hyper-connected world of applications, it is not uncommon for any product, service, or application to have APIs. APIs (Application Programming Interface) has become the de-facto foundational technology for enterprise app development and more specifically for Web applications.

An API-Centric or API-Driven Web Application is a web application that basically executes most, if not, all of its functionality through API calls. In an API-Centric web application, the front-end communicates with the backend using just APIs.

There are a number of advantages of developing an API-centric web application, namely,

  1. Easy consumption on multiple devices. RESTful APIs provide a lightweight integration model that significantly helps in creating mobile applications.
  2. Business logic is well contained with individual APIs.
  3. Ease of application development as the focus of application in on the front end-user interaction.
  4. Forces Reuse, as APIs developed can be used by multiple applications on multiple form factors.
  5. With the proliferation of APIs (Open, Cloud, SaaS), etc., developing applications becomes faster and easier.

In this post, we will see how developers can easily create API-Centric Web applications using WaveMaker Studio. Using Import functionality, a developer can use a wizard to import REST, SOAP APIs into the application development. Figure 1, shows how a REST API is imported in Studio,

REST APIs can be secured or non-secured. WaveMaker REST API Import Wizard allows for quick consumption of Secured as well as Non-Secured REST APIs. Secured APIs can be imported in 2 ways,

  • Using Basic HTTP Authentication, passing in Username and Password. Enable the HTTP Authentication check box as shown in Figure 2, to import the API.
  • Passing Security Tokens via HTTP Header properties. For example in order to authenticate via OAuth Security, Authorization: Bearer token is sent in the header to get back an OAuth access token. See Figure 3 that shows how the Authorization Token is passed to the API. Similarly other tokens, cookies can be used as required by the REST API.

API-Centric Applications also make it easier for external applications (Mobile as well as Web) to integrate into it easily. It does it by exposing REST APIs to the external world.

WaveMaker Studio soon [1] will have support for creating a Swagger 2.0 compliant API Specification file for the auto-generated REST APIs as part of the Application developed. See the previous post on API Designer that talks about Studio-Auto generating REST APIs. In the upcoming version, the API Designer will generate Swagger conformant REST API documentation. More about it in a later blog post. Figure 4 shows below the Swagger 2.0 document for the HR DB (Sample DB) REST APIs auto-generated by Studio.

This Swagger document can also be taken and used to publish the APIs for the external world using WaveMaker Gateway product.

Excited about developing API-Centric applications using Studio?  If so, log in to WaveMaker Online and create one. If you have any suggestions and feedback contact us.

Mayur Shah (mayur.shah@wavemaker.com)

WaveMaker Passionate Technologist