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Adapting our API for multiple platforms

Rouven Weling
Rouven Weling

Showcasing some of the approaches Contentful used to make their API suitable for all devices - from embedded hardware to big server.

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Adapting our API for multiple platforms BY ROUVEN WELING
Like a CMS without the bad bits. Contentful is a content management developer platform with an API at its core.
How do you consume news? At Contentful we had to adapt our APIs to suite a wide variety of platforms and use cases. How did we do it?
In the UK newspaper circulation fell 43% between 2001 and 2014. In the US 10% of subscribers read online. NEWSPAPER The old fashioned way. As of 2016, just 20% of US adults read print paper news. Just 5% of 18 to 29-year-olds.
85% of US adults consume news on digital devices. 13% consume news only on desktops/laptops. 42% of adults using both mobile and desktop prefer the desktop. WEB
70% of US adults aged 18-29 prefer or only use mobile devices. 88% of mobile internet time is spent in apps. 25% of US smartphone owners prefer apps; 25% the mobile web. MOBILE All the cool kids do it.
Amazon has sold over 5 million Echos in the US. CNN got 36.5 million unique readers from Apple News in September 2016. Sky Sports gets around 1 million daily viewers on Snapchat Discover. NEW PLATFORMS Are you ready for them?
TODAY CONTENT HAS TO BE MULT-PLATFORM Consumption behavior is changing. Companies who cant adapt will be left behind.
Modular Built to make content reusable and channel agnostic. Microservice API-driven design allows powerful integration with third parties. Cloud service Focus on the user experience; not running the backend The CMS that enables developers to serve all platforms.
10 How does that affect our APIs?
Limitations Enable developers to present content on all connected platforms.* The devices might lose its internet connection at any time. Of鍖ine Mobile devices might be on a slow or metered connection. Bandwidth Some platforms require the content to be sent to them. Push Embedded platforms have limited processing power. Performance *As long as they support HTTP and JSON
12 Offline Mobile devices might lose their internet connection at any time.
SYNC API Download all content to the device Store a token that marks the last content that has been synced Next sync; get only changed content #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/sync? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&initial=true'
SYNC API Download all content to the device Store a token that marks the last content that has been synced Next sync; get only changed content { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "items": [ { "sys": {}, "fields": { "name": { "en-US": "London" }, "center": { "en-US": { "lon": -0.12548719999995228, "lat": 51.508515 } } } } ], "nextSyncUrl": "https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/sync? sync_token=w5ZGw6JFwqZmVcKsE8Kow4grw45QdybCnV_Cg8OASMKpwo1UY8K8bsKFwqJrw7DDhcKnM2 RDOVbDt1E-wo7CnDjChMKKGsK1wrzCrBzCqMOpZAwOOcOvCcOAwqHDv0XCiMKaOcOxZA8BJUzDr8K- wo1lNx7DnHE" }
Push Unlike the web and mobile apps, some content platforms require the publisher to provide the content to them.
www.contentful.com WEBHOOKS Dont call us; well call you Select the events necessary Payload contains the entire body
17 Bandwidth Mobile networks are super fast - but not everywhere. Enable users to get to content before they get bored.
Images API Resize images server side so they are as small as possible. When constrained by bandwidth, resize further or reduce the quality.
LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries/nyancat? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&locale=en-US' curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries/nyancat? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&locale=tlh'
LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale { "sys": { "id": "nyancat", "locale": "en-US" }, "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "happycat" } }, "birthday": "2011-04-04T22:00:00+00:00", "lives": 1337, } }
LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale { "sys": { "id": "nyancat", "locale": "tlh" }, "fields": { "name": "Nyan vIghro'", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "happycat" } }, "birthday": "2011-04-04T22:00:00+00:00", "lives": 1337, } }
Performance Embedded platforms are very different from the computer we all use.
ADJUST PAYLOAD JSON is very lightweight Less JSON parses faster than more JSON Only worth it on severely constrained devices #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&select=sys.id,fields.name'
ADJUST PAYLOAD JSON is very lightweight Less JSON parses faster than more JSON Only worth it on severely constrained devices { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "total": 3, "skip": 0, "limit": 100, "items": [ { "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat" }, "sys": { "id": "nyancat" } }, { "fields": { "name": "Garfield" }, "sys": { "id": "garfield" } } ] }
RESOLVE REFERENCES Avoid API requests by fetching linked resources Control over the level of depth #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&fields.color=rainbow&include=1'
RESOLVE REFERENCES Avoid API requests by fetching linked resources Control over the level of depth { "items": [{ "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat", "color": "rainbow", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "id": "happycat" } } } }], "includes": [{ "fields": { "name": "Happy Cat", "color": "gray", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "id": "nyancat" } } } }] }
COMPLEX QUERIES Avoid API requests with complex queries Search on referenced content #!/bin/sh curl https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&limit=1&include=0& fields.bestFriend.sys.contentType.sys.id=cat&fields.bestFriend.fields.color=rainbow'
COMPLEX QUERIES Avoid API requests with complex queries Search on referenced content { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "total": 1, "skip": 0, "limit": 1, "items": [ { "sys": { "id": "happycat", "locale": "en-US" }, "fields": { "name": "Happy Cat", "color": "gray", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "nyancat" } }, "lives": 1 } } ] }
ROUVEN WELING Twitter: @RouvenWessling Email: rouven@contentful.com

More Related Content

Adapting our API for multiple platforms

  • 1. Adapting our API for multiple platforms BY ROUVEN WELING
  • 2. Like a CMS without the bad bits. Contentful is a content management developer platform with an API at its core.
  • 3. How do you consume news? At Contentful we had to adapt our APIs to suite a wide variety of platforms and use cases. How did we do it?
  • 4. In the UK newspaper circulation fell 43% between 2001 and 2014. In the US 10% of subscribers read online. NEWSPAPER The old fashioned way. As of 2016, just 20% of US adults read print paper news. Just 5% of 18 to 29-year-olds.
  • 5. 85% of US adults consume news on digital devices. 13% consume news only on desktops/laptops. 42% of adults using both mobile and desktop prefer the desktop. WEB
  • 6. 70% of US adults aged 18-29 prefer or only use mobile devices. 88% of mobile internet time is spent in apps. 25% of US smartphone owners prefer apps; 25% the mobile web. MOBILE All the cool kids do it.
  • 7. Amazon has sold over 5 million Echos in the US. CNN got 36.5 million unique readers from Apple News in September 2016. Sky Sports gets around 1 million daily viewers on Snapchat Discover. NEW PLATFORMS Are you ready for them?
  • 8. TODAY CONTENT HAS TO BE MULT-PLATFORM Consumption behavior is changing. Companies who cant adapt will be left behind.
  • 9. Modular Built to make content reusable and channel agnostic. Microservice API-driven design allows powerful integration with third parties. Cloud service Focus on the user experience; not running the backend The CMS that enables developers to serve all platforms.
  • 11. Limitations Enable developers to present content on all connected platforms.* The devices might lose its internet connection at any time. Of鍖ine Mobile devices might be on a slow or metered connection. Bandwidth Some platforms require the content to be sent to them. Push Embedded platforms have limited processing power. Performance *As long as they support HTTP and JSON
  • 12. 12 Offline Mobile devices might lose their internet connection at any time.
  • 13. SYNC API Download all content to the device Store a token that marks the last content that has been synced Next sync; get only changed content #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/sync? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&initial=true'
  • 14. SYNC API Download all content to the device Store a token that marks the last content that has been synced Next sync; get only changed content { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "items": [ { "sys": {}, "fields": { "name": { "en-US": "London" }, "center": { "en-US": { "lon": -0.12548719999995228, "lat": 51.508515 } } } } ], "nextSyncUrl": "https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/sync? sync_token=w5ZGw6JFwqZmVcKsE8Kow4grw45QdybCnV_Cg8OASMKpwo1UY8K8bsKFwqJrw7DDhcKnM2 RDOVbDt1E-wo7CnDjChMKKGsK1wrzCrBzCqMOpZAwOOcOvCcOAwqHDv0XCiMKaOcOxZA8BJUzDr8K- wo1lNx7DnHE" }
  • 15. Push Unlike the web and mobile apps, some content platforms require the publisher to provide the content to them.
  • 16. www.contentful.com WEBHOOKS Dont call us; well call you Select the events necessary Payload contains the entire body
  • 17. 17 Bandwidth Mobile networks are super fast - but not everywhere. Enable users to get to content before they get bored.
  • 18. Images API Resize images server side so they are as small as possible. When constrained by bandwidth, resize further or reduce the quality.
  • 19. LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries/nyancat? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&locale=en-US' curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries/nyancat? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&locale=tlh'
  • 20. LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale { "sys": { "id": "nyancat", "locale": "en-US" }, "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "happycat" } }, "birthday": "2011-04-04T22:00:00+00:00", "lives": 1337, } }
  • 21. LOCALES Most people never change the websites/apps language Optimize for the common case: only load for the users current locale { "sys": { "id": "nyancat", "locale": "tlh" }, "fields": { "name": "Nyan vIghro'", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "happycat" } }, "birthday": "2011-04-04T22:00:00+00:00", "lives": 1337, } }
  • 22. Performance Embedded platforms are very different from the computer we all use.
  • 23. ADJUST PAYLOAD JSON is very lightweight Less JSON parses faster than more JSON Only worth it on severely constrained devices #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&select=sys.id,fields.name'
  • 24. ADJUST PAYLOAD JSON is very lightweight Less JSON parses faster than more JSON Only worth it on severely constrained devices { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "total": 3, "skip": 0, "limit": 100, "items": [ { "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat" }, "sys": { "id": "nyancat" } }, { "fields": { "name": "Garfield" }, "sys": { "id": "garfield" } } ] }
  • 25. RESOLVE REFERENCES Avoid API requests by fetching linked resources Control over the level of depth #!/bin/sh curl 'https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&fields.color=rainbow&include=1'
  • 26. RESOLVE REFERENCES Avoid API requests by fetching linked resources Control over the level of depth { "items": [{ "fields": { "name": "Nyan Cat", "color": "rainbow", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "id": "happycat" } } } }], "includes": [{ "fields": { "name": "Happy Cat", "color": "gray", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "id": "nyancat" } } } }] }
  • 27. COMPLEX QUERIES Avoid API requests with complex queries Search on referenced content #!/bin/sh curl https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/cfexampleapi/entries? access_token=b4c0n73n7fu1&content_type=cat&limit=1&include=0& fields.bestFriend.sys.contentType.sys.id=cat&fields.bestFriend.fields.color=rainbow'
  • 28. COMPLEX QUERIES Avoid API requests with complex queries Search on referenced content { "sys": { "type": "Array" }, "total": 1, "skip": 0, "limit": 1, "items": [ { "sys": { "id": "happycat", "locale": "en-US" }, "fields": { "name": "Happy Cat", "color": "gray", "bestFriend": { "sys": { "type": "Link", "linkType": "Entry", "id": "nyancat" } }, "lives": 1 } } ] }