After spending some time in class working with the REST API, I found myself still having questions regarding what it is and how it works. I decided that I should do some further reading on my own, and I thought that I should make a blog post explaining my findings. I read several articles, but one article in particular by IBM I think describes REST API the best.

Before we delve into REST itself, we first have to understand what an API is. API stands for application programming interface; it is a set of rules that define how applications or devices can communicate with each other. It’s a mechanism that allows applications to access resources within other applications. The application that is utilized to access the other application is called the client, while the application that contains the resources being accessed is called the server.

REST API is an API that uses REST principles. Unlike other APIs which have pretty strict frameworks, REST is pretty flexible. The only necessary requirement is that the REST design principles, or architectural constraints, are followed. These are:

1. Uniform interface – All API requests for the same resources should be the same regardless of where the request came from.
2. Client-server decoupling – The client and the server need to completely independent of each other. The client should only know about the URI, or the Uniform Resource Identifier, and the server should only pass the client to the requested data via HTTP.
3. Statelessness – All requests need to include all the information necessary to process them.
4. Cacheability – Resources should be cacheable on both the client and the server. The server should also know whether or not caching is allowed for a delivered resource.
5. Layered system architecture – The calls and responses go through different intermediary layers.
6. Code on demand – Usually, REST APIs send static resources, but in some cases, they can also contain executable code. In such cases the code should on run on-demand

I didn’t know that REST API had design principles, so this was new information to me. However, so far, I only discussed what REST API is, we still need to understand how it works. REST APIs communicate using HTTP, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, requests to perform basic functions in databases like creating, reading, updating, and deleting data inside a resource. For example, a GET request would retrieve data, a DELETE request would remove data, a PUT request would update data, and so on. All HTTP methods are able to be utilized in API calls. Another thing to note is that the resource representation can be delivered to the client in virtually any form including JSON, HTML, Python, and even normal text files. Finally, it’s important to note the request headers, response headers, and parameters in calls. They’re important because they contain vital identifier information such as URIs, cookies, caching, etc.

https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/rest-apis

From the blog CS@Worcester – Fadi Akram by Fadi Akram and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

For this week’s blog post, I am reviewing a blog post made by Gabriel Tanner. Mr. Tanner is a software engineer at Dynatrace and in this blog post, he talks about the characteristics of Docker Compose, why we should use Docker compose. Mr. Tanner starts the blog post about why we have/use Docker.

“With applications getting larger and larger as time goes by it gets harder to manage them in a simple and reliable way.”

The first feature about Docker compose that Mr. Tanner talks about is its portability and how it can construct and destruct a development environment using the docker-compose up and docker compose down commands respectively. The blog post also goes common uses of Docker compose and common reasons why people use Docker compose. Some examples of common uses of Docker are its ability to run several containers on a single host and to run your program in an isolated environment. An example of a common reason why people use Docker compose is people might want to run their program in an environment similar to the one used in the production stage. The post also goes on to talk about volumes and the different types of volumes and their syntax, networking so that our containers can communicate with one another and many other different topics.

The entire blog post is basically one big tutorial about Docker compose. It defines the features of Docker compose, gives examples of its uses, and explains why we should use it. I think this is a blog post that is worth reviewing for this class because I think it could be a really good resource to have in the class. The post is a little long, but it is very thorough. I think it would be a good way to review Docker compose before a midterm or final. In addition, the blog post also covers a lot of information that we have not done over in class, so it also provides a way for us to investigate and learn more deeply about the topic. For the first half of the blog post, it covers material that we have already covered in class but in the second half of the blog post, it covers a lot of features about Docker that we have not yet covered in class such as using multiple Docker compose files by passing an optional override file. This is a feature of Docker that I can see myself using in the future and is a feature that I wish I had learned sooner. A couple semesters ago, I was doing a project in MatLab and Java and was running several large programs on one computer. This made the project very time-consuming and difficult because it took a long time to run all of the programs, generate and collect all of the results. Had I known what I know now about Docker, I would have done a lot of things differently.  

https://gabrieltanner.org/blog/docker-compose

From the blog CS@Worcester – Just a Guy Passing By by Eric Nguyen and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week I read a blog post about the top 10 most popular software architecture patterns, and I thought it really related to this class. The blog starts off going into what software architecture patterns are, and why it should be focused on. The blogger describes the patterns as an outcome of the design principles architects use and the decisions they make. The blogger thinks it should be focused on because it enables a software system to deliver its business, operational, and technical objectives. The blog then gives some tips on how to know if your patterns are good, and then lists the 10 most common patterns. The blog ends on how to evaluate which pattern is best for your project. I selected this blog post because from last week I wanted to go deeper in the world of software architecture, and I thought the different patterns was a good way to go. I think this blog was a great read that I recommend for many reasons. A huge reason was that it really is good at giving background information before really getting into the list, so that you understand what a software architecture pattern is. Before I read the blog, I had no idea what it was, and that made me want to learn more, and this blog helped with that. Another reason I would recommend reading this blog is because it gives the top 10 most common patterns. That is important because for a career in this field, you have to know the most common patterns because those are the ones that will be used the most in future jobs. If anyone is thinking about a career in this field then they should definitely know the 10 patterns. The last reason I will mention is that in the end, the blogger explains that to get the right pattern for your application, software architects with that skill are the most sought after, so it really should be a big reason to learn more about patterns because you can really use it to your advantage. I learned what the software architecture patterns are, and that the software architecture models make it easy to reuse them in other projects since you now know the decisions and trade-offs. I also learned that the interpreter pattern, and the layered architecture pattern are two of the most well-used patterns, as I think I have done something similar to them before. This material affected me hugely because it showed how important the patterns are to software development, so it showed that I will be needing it if I ever want to become a developer in the near future, so it is really great to know this stuff. I will take all of this knowledge with me as I continue in my career. Everyone who wants a career in software development just has to read this blog as well.

link : https://nix-united.com/blog/10-common-software-architectural-patterns-part-1/

From the blog CS@Worcester – Anesti Blog's by Anesti Lara and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

While working with YAML files is a relatively new concept for me, I must say that the structure is somewhat similar to another style of coding I am more familiar with: CSS. The two are not exactly the same, however the “key: value” format makes coding with YAML files that much easier. As noted later on, the importance of indentation in YAML reminds me of Python, a familiar programming language.

As part of the title, I have decided to make my own acronym for YAML: (Y)ou (A)lways (M)ake (L)ogs. This is because I view YAML files almost like logs for a certain state of a project; each one consists of all the different elements that make up a certain level of a SemVer state. In fact, YAML files consist of all the different materials that have been seen in this course before; ports, images and more make up a YAML file. In addition, these files are often used with preview software (such as Swagger) to create visualizations of APIs.

In the link below, one can find a video that explains the structure of YAML files. This information is alongside applications of the files, and even a tutorial for setting up a YAML extension in Visual Studio Code. I have chosen to watch this video on YAML files for two reasons: first, I need more practice with YAML, and in my opinion, increasing my exposure to it is the best way to gain more experience. Second, videos are a preferable source of educational media in my opinion; having visual examples helps to get the idea across better than simple discussions.

YAML files can be simple, like the one shown above; they can also be thousands upon thousands of lines of code. Traditionally, they start with the version number, and are also dependent on proper indentation (similar to Python). Features of a YAML file can be as significant as a docker image, such as nginx; features can be as focused as making an element “read-only” within an API endpoint.

Among everything else, it is important to emphasize and take away this lesson from YAML files: these files are a core component of software design, connecting several familiar aspects together. By learning about YAML, I can figure out a way to run images, map ports and even more, all within a single file called by the “docker-compose up” command. Personally, I feel as though YAML will be an invaluable resource in future IT endeavors; while software such as Git focuses on the level of version control, YAML focuses on what exactly goes on in that level.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwLBfZFrLgI

From the blog CS@Worcester – mpekim.code by Mike Morley (mpekim) and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The internet could not exist without servers to handle the exchange of data between devices. Given the importance of servers, the software and systems that run on them are equally as important. The programming of these applications is called Server-side development and is a large computer science field.

Most server-side applications are designed to interact with client-side applications and handle the transfer of data. A common form of server-side development is for supporting web pages and web applications. An emerging popular platform for web application backends is Node.js, a server-side language based on JavaScript.

A benefit to Node.js being based on JavaScript means that the same language can be used on the front end and the back end. Because JavaScript can handle JSON data natively, handling data on the server-side becomes much easier compared to some other languages. As the name suggests, JavaScript is a scripting language so code for Node.js also does not need to be compiled prior to running. Node.js uses the V8 engine developed by Google to efficiently convert JavaScript into bytecode at runtime. This feature can speed up development time for running smaller files frequently, especially during testing.

Node.js also comes bundled with a command-line utility called Node Package Manager. Abbreviated npm, it manages open-source libraries for Node.js projects and easily installs them into the project directory. The npm package repository is comparable to the Maven repository for Java. However, according to modulecounts.com, npm is over three times larger than Maven with nearly 1.8 million packages compared to less than 500 thousand. Each Node.js project has a package.json file where settings for the project are defined such as running scripts, version number, required npm packages, and author information.

The majority of Node.js applications share common packages that have become standard frameworks throughout the community. An example of this is Express.js, which is a backend web framework that handles API routing and data transfer in Node.js.

At the core of node.js is the event loop which is responsible for checking for the next operation to be done. This allows for code to be executed out of order without waiting for an unrelated operation to finish before the next. The default asynchronous ability of node.js is ideal for webservers where many users are continuously requiring different tasks to be done with differing speeds of execution. When people visit different API routes, they expect the server to respond as quickly as possible and not be hung up on a previous request.

I have used Node.js before but now that we have begun to use it in class, I wanted to learn more about its benefits in server-side development. For me, the most important takeaway is the need to take advantage of Node.js’s nonblocking ability when developing a program. Doing so will improve the speed of the application and increase usability.

Source: https://www.educative.io/blog/what-is-nodejs, http://www.modulecounts.com

From the blog CS@Worcester – Jared's Development Blog by Jared Moore and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.