Database Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
Integrating iOS Applications into
Enterprise Services
In the early days of software development, you ran your programs directly on a com-
puter, sitting in front of the console. Later, the idea of timesharing and remote sessions
came into being, bringing with it the rise of the 3270 and VT-100 terminals, along with
punch cards and paper tape. Later, network computing became the rage, with Sun
famously proclaiming that the network was the computer. We got RPC, CORBA, and
we've evolved today into SOAP, REST, and AJAX. But no matter what it's called, or
what format the data moves in, all these technologies attempt to solve the same prob-
lem, the same one that has existed since client-server architectures first came upon the
earth.
As an iOS developer, you face the same problem today. You need to be able to reliably
and (hopefully) easily integrate user-facing UI with all the messy business logic, per-
sistence, security, and magic unicorn blood that does all the hard work on the backend.
*
The Rules of the Road
There are basically two possible scenarios when integrating iOS applications into En-
terprise services. Either you are starting from scratch on both ends, or you have some
legacy service with which you need to ingratiate your new application. The former
situation is vastly preferable, because you can fine-tune your protocols and payloads
to the demands of mobile clients, but the later scenario is probably the more likely one.
In any event, I'll talk in general about each of them, and then look at some specific
techniques for dealing with various protocols and payloads under iOS.
* Note: Magic Unicorn Blood contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects,
or other reproductive harm. Please consider the use of Magic Pixie Dust in place of Magic Unicorn Blood
when feasible.
