When I am creating a simple website with node.js I am fine with using the view engine (eg. jade) and controllers that provide data to it (eg. simple todo list). However, if I decide to add AngularJS as the client framework then it seems that I must implement REST API on the backend to get data from it. Almost all examples I see online with AngularJS have this basic architecture: client (angular) communicates with the server via REST API.
Can AngularJS be used without REST API and if so should I do it or should avoid it? Are there any recommendation/best practices for using AngularJS without REST API backend?
Absolutely. Angular can still do a lot on your site even if you never utilize the $http service to talk to your server. You can still take advantage of the utilities for helping out with managing your DOM.
That said, most modern apps need to get data from the server. There are tons of reasons why you might need to do this. For example, if you had users that needed to sign up then you'd need to store their username and password somewhere. That somewhere would be in a database that only your server can access. Then your server would provide some URLs that you can talk to via Angular's $http service.
If you do have an app that makes calls to the server but you want to turn off the network communication for testing, you can mock the $http call responses. Angular provides an $httpBackend for that exact purpose. You can use it to set up dummy URLs that pretend to respond to your $http calls so that your $http calls don't know they aren't actually talking to a server.
authRequestHandler = $httpBackend.when('GET', '/auth.py')
.respond({userId: 'userX'}, {'A-Token': 'xxx'});
Perfect for testing your code without a REST backend during testing.
REST which is short for Representational state transfer is basically things or resources instead of actions. Yes AngularJS can be used without REST API.
You can use nodeJS for your restful API and AngularJS as your javascript framework.
Even without a restful API AnguarlJS is a very strong tool to use in a project although to use it to it's full potential (fully scaled web app) then you would need a restful API.
use $http for not RESTful API
use $resource for RESTful API
Related
Is there such thing as an API controller in Nodejs? An API layer that communicates with multiple APIs [that each return the same type of data, but completely different data models] and massaging the data to return to our client-side display? Is there a different term for this?
I have a simple CRUD application.
AngularJS front-end calls my RESTful Nodejs APIs on the back end.
Now, however, there is a 3rd party who has their own APIs and data that I would like my front-end to be able to use if the user wishes.
The data from the 3rd party API's is similar data to ours, but will not follow the same data model. I am trying to wrap my head around how I should begin to write an API the front-end will call that could go to either our API or the 3rd party [and possibly future 3rd parties] and massage the data so either way it is the same to the display.
Any resources or better ways to handle this scenario?
Yes, there are a number of ways this could be accomplished with nodeJS. How you set it up will be dependent on the details of your project, but here are a few ways to get that functionality:
Setup an endpoint that queries other endpoints. For example, all api requests hit /api/1.0/:routing_params, and based off of that routing_param send out requests to various other apis. This data is returned to your backend which then sends the response to the browser.
Use something like expressJS to mount multiple routers, with each router handling the various endpoints for each api. Documentation for express routing can be found here. ExpressRouting
Depending on your scaling/performance requirements you can also consider using something like nginx to handle incoming requests and direct them to separate nodejs processes handling the various api logic. This may be overkill, but is an easy way to keep things modular if you expect the need to run multiple nodejs processes and handle multiple future api endpoints.
That should provide some starting points, what you choose to do and how you implement it will be highly dependent on the specifications of your application.
I'm using django-rest-framework, which accepts API requests from frontend javascript. My frontend javascript and backend django APIs are hosted on the same apache server and are within the same domain.
Is there a way by which I can ensure that my APIs are accessible only via the frontend javascript and not via curl commands or any other programming methods ?
I'm not sure about that, the nature of an API is making it accessible to those who have the key and correct way to request information but there are other tools to achieve the same effect if you're only wanting your db accessible from your site. Take a look at django ajax https://github.com/yceruto/django-ajax it works by throwing a decorator on a view which returns a json response. I've found it to be a very helpful tool.
I am newbie to angularjs. I developed an angularjs application using angular seed skeleton https://github.com/angular/angular-seed for client side. And for API server I used expressjs server.
My home page url is something like localhost:9000/app/index.html#/home
So, typically if I hit the url localhost:9000/app/index.html#/home I see my home page.
But, I have a requirement that there will be a POST request also to my application from some xyz application.
So, I want to determine, whether the incoming request to my angular seed application is coming from an external application or not.
Like in PHP there is a Super global array $_SERVER, with which you can determine the incoming request method... Is there anything in angularjs to determine the request method.
I hope my question is clear enough to understand.
Truly appreciate for reading my question, some hint would be great.
What you are asking implies you want to use an Angular frontend to provide POST method endpoints to your API. This does not make sense.
The equivalent of PHP's $_SERVER array to get passed variables is found inside Express's API, using the req parameter of a specific route setup. See http://expressjs.com/4x/api.html#router.route. This is where you create logic based on request method. app.get() and app.post() and app.put() and so on, as Ben's comment mentioned.
In the traditional PHP example you mention, the entire request goes to the server and a page result is returned to the browser, so you have the chance to detect that a POST or GET was made and direct the request appropriately.
Angular is a javascript based framework that runs in a browser. The browser will use GET requests to initially download all the html/js/css, but then it runs in a javascript context and no server is involved after this point unless explicitly coded in an Angular module/controller. This is where you would make GET/POST/PUT/DELETE requests to your API backend.
Your API is accessed with XHR (XmlHttpRequest) calls in a javascript context, based on user interaction with the UI. These calls can be made using GET or POST et al depending on how your API functions, using angular $http or $resource and the like.
I have a WCF webservice developed with .NET 4.0 which I need to be called by a Javascript client. I have been searching online for the best binding to use to make this possible. Most answers seems to point towards webhttp, but I am concerned as this is one of the lest secure bindings. What is the best way to configure this?
As per my experience and understanding of "invoking wcf service from client side using jquery", i would say:
You can use either of webhttp or basichttp binding if need to invoke using jquery/javascript (surely basichttp better choice over webhttp here).
One person even wrote an article on codeproject where mentioned that using jquery one can even invoke wshttp bidning based wcf, I have not tried it myself, so not sure about it but if you need to expose your service with wshttp, then can refer this link on CP:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/311908/Calling-WCF-service-exposed-with-different-binding
In my opinion i would say:
if there is no business need to expose service as rest one, then don't go for webhttp, Again if your client app is NOT a .net app and if there is no need to have security in place, then you can avoid wshttp totally, so per this i would say go for basichttp bidning, where you get interoperable service and can even add security in future, if needed.
Quick testing your WCF webservice you can install "Advance REST client", it's available for Chrome/Firefox.
In order to integrate with your JS client app, you can use jQuery http get post depending upon your WCF verb. Alternatively, you can also use Angular.JS for the same, e.g., $http.get
For security you can secure your service endpoints in .net
Take a look at this page which specify different security configurations you can use in wcf.
What is your javascript client? is it running in browser?
I want to use WCF to expose my data layer.
I want to use this WCF in WPF project and Web application.
So i can call this service using javascript or jquery.
But one thing I could not understand that using WPF and wcf is not problem and is very flexible.
Means I am able to create DataContracts and Service Contracts and then later will decide on endpoints etc.
But so far my understanding is that to use using javascript I have to convert wcf into wcf rest services, by adding attributes to the Service Contracts.
Does not this breaks the whole principle of SOA using WCF, where I create WCF and using configuration will be able to use with any application silverlight, wpf, asp.net, php etc
and how I will be able to reuse my wcf data constarcts and service contracts code.
Thanks,
Daljit Singh
Please take a look at WCF Data Services. This toolset allows you to quickly and flexibly have both JSON and XML formatted access to your data layer using the REST protocol. The fact that you choose REST does not mean it is not SOA. And REST is supported very nicely also in WPF. REST just fixes your protocol to http.
For a discussion on REST versus SOAP, please read http://blog.tonysneed.com/2010/04/13/wcf-data-services-versus-wcf-soap-services/.