When creating a web or mobile application, there are two distinct areas: the user-facing front and the technical backend. The front end is what users see and interact with, while the back end handles tasks such as database management, user authentication, cloud storage, push notifications, and hosting.
Achieving a functional backend can be challenging, but using a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) can significantly simplify the process. BaaS is a service that enables developers to focus on building the app or website without having to manage the backend themselves.
What is Backend-as-a-Service BaaS
BaaS, also known as Mobile Backend-as-a-Service, is a unique solution that enables mobile app developers to connect their applications to cloud-based services. Traditional mobile app development often requires mobile middleware, which can be complex and time-consuming.
BaaS offers a more streamlined approach by creating a unified Application Programming Interface (API) and Software Developer Kit (SDK) that can be easily integrated into mobile apps. This allows developers to focus on building the front-end user experience while the BaaS handles the backend functionality.
The backend services accessed through BaaS include cloud storage platforms, push notifications, location services, social networking integration, and user management. These services are crucial for the smooth functioning of a mobile app and can be time-consuming and challenging to implement on your own.
With BaaS, developers can easily access these services without worrying about the backend infrastructure and maintenance. This allows for faster development times and reduced costs and complexity.
Features
BaaS providers offer various features to cater to advanced business needs. These functionalities vary in scope and purpose among providers. The most common features that companies include are:
- Social integration allows apps to connect users to social media profiles, providing additional native features such as social activity lists
- Native notifications allow apps to interact with users when it isn’t actively running and alert them about any changes to the app
- Search functionality, crucial for the content-discovery design, allows users to find context-appropriate information
- Mobile Application Management provides the ability to manage the app’s functionality and restrict certain functions based on user permissions, device types, and so on for security reasons
These are the key features that BaaS providers often include. However, the range of functionalities offered may vary from provider to provider.
Pros
- BaaS simplifies, including key features such as location services, user management, push notifications, and social network integrations into your app
- BaaS eliminates the need to build your back-end services, which can be time-consuming and error-prone
- BaaS has a lower learning curve, as it doesn’t require cross-platform development or new back-end processing skills, resulting in a shorter time to market
- BaaS enables a stronger focus on front-end development, as it comes with key back-end features, allowing more time and resources to be spent on the visual side of the experience
- BaaS simplifies visual management and search functionality, and it eliminates the need to handle multiple complicated APIs
- With BaaS, you can easily accommodate increased usage rates and demand without handling complex back-end work
Cons
- Vendor lock-in: The difficulty of effortlessly moving from one BaaS platform to another is a typical problem developer face
- Moving code that connects front- and back-end elements to a new platform or provider can be complicated, as the back-end elements won’t move with you to a new provider, requiring developers to recreate those connections
- Less control over code: BaaS can be limiting for developers who want complete control over every line of code
- Potential for code failures: BaaS code failure can occur, and in that case, a server must be brought in to pick up the slack, which goes against the purpose of BaaS, a cloud-based back-end without the physical infrastructure
How Does Backend-as-a-Service Work?
Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS)
typically utilizes tools that run in the cloud and are often constructed in layers. The three main layers are:
- Foundation layer: This layer includes servers that store and operate your data and programs
- Application layer: BaaS products handle requests such as logins
- Connection layer: This layer connects the application servers online
The core idea behind BaaS is “API-first” creation, in which an API is created first and then utilized to build multiple mobile devices (iOS, Android, etc.). The API and SDK connect the front end to the back end, including security and data administration.
This is in opposition to the “mobile-first” approach, also called PaaS, that prioritizes the development of a mobile web page before moving on to the backend good or service.
PaaS is just a cloud-based system that allows developers to build applications. It eliminates the need for developers to design and manage the app backend, similar to serverless computing and BaaS.
PaaS excludes server-side application functions like push notifications and authentication mechanisms. PaaS gives developers more flexibility, whereas BaaS delivers more capabilities.
Top-down development has typically been stressed in the mobile-first strategy, in which developers design the app’s web page and create different products for each device, resulting in self-contained or self-managed applications.
On the other hand, the API method considers that, regardless of their unique features and advanced requirements, all platforms and apps share essential foundation capabilities and demands such as notifications, user access, and storage.
Key Components of BaaS
Backend-as-a-Service uses a modular design which includes easy-to-manage or drag-and-drop capabilities to simplify the backend process for developers. This architecture is divided into three components, according to the Acropolis:
Modules
Content types, functionality, data, or user model modules are examples. Developers can use a BaaS generator to manage entries and variables that specify how client data is supplied.
A content-types information module enables users to filter queries and conduct CRUD actions using GraphQL or APIs. Some BaaS providers also provide business logic programming to let users control app data exchange operations.
The user-model module is the BaaS strongbox of access control and rights used to manage how users join a mobile or online app, what data they have entry to, and whether data may be shared using third-party companies.
A BaaS platform architecture can incorporate modules like page, file storage, finite state, and content builders.
API
The BaaS design comprises multiple layers, with the second being the API layer. In modern BaaS solutions, REST APIs provide developers greater flexibility in managing backend processes.
These APIs make the management and configuration of BaaS architecture modules, like database and authentication updates, more manageable. Additionally, the versatility of REST APIs makes BaaS useful for various applications, from gaming to chatbots.
Data Channels
Data transportation pathways, also known as channels, guide data to its ultimate destination, a REST API.
These channels act as the conduit for data to flow from the app to the BaaS API, allowing for interaction with databases, servers, and various components. Similar to the circulatory system, these channels play a crucial role in the overall functioning of a BaaS design.
Conclusion
Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) is a third-party service that enables developers to build web and mobile-based applications without worrying about the backend.
BaaS providers offer a wide range of functionality, including critical features like push notifications, social networking integration, location services, and user management.
BaaS simplifies the implementation of essential features, eliminates the need to build your own back-end services, and has a lower learning curve than other back-end development alternatives. BaaS utilizes a modular design that combines easy-to-manage and drag-and-drop capabilities and employs a REST API to keep backend processes flexible. This allows developers to focus on the front-end development while BaaS takes care of the backend. \
