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By Andrew Cantino Backbone applications. All of this is designed to reduce network requests and simplify development of HTML5 applications, especially mobile ones. With Backbone + Brainstem, loading a hierarchy of objects from your server can be reduced to one line of code and one network request. This talk will survey Brainstem usage in Rails, then dive into how it can enable rich mobile HTML5 applications. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/FGak/
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In the video "Introducing Brainstem, your companion for rich Rails APIs" presented by Andrew Cantino at RailsConf 2013, the focus is on the Brainstem library, which is a tool designed to enhance the development of APIs in Ruby on Rails, particularly for complex data models found in applications like Mavenlink's project and financial management software. Cantino explains the challenges of working with complex relational data and emphasizes the need for APIs that are user-oriented, consistent, fast, and manageable. Key points discussed include: - **Complex Data Models**: Introduced by reflecting on Mavenlink’s relational data structure, which must express intricate user and business relationships, forming the basis for the development of Brainstem. - **Importance of API Design**: Three key users of an API are identified: users of the product, developers building atop the product as a platform, and the developers making internal capabilities better. All components must work consistently across these interactions. - **API Characteristics**: Emphasized the need for an API to be well-defined, consistent, and fast. - Consistency includes using standard response formats and predictable route structures, - Fast APIs minimize database queries and integrate side-loading to fetch associated data in one request. - **Brainstem's Functionality**: Cantino describes how Brainstem allows for streamlined serialization of complex relational data into a single JSON response with the use of presenters. Presenters convert ActiveRecord objects into desired JSON formats, allowing for efficient and clear data handling while preserving relational integrity. - **Integration with Backbone**: The presentation introduces Brainstem.js, an adapter that allows Backbone.js to consume Brainstem APIs effectively, maintaining relationships between data models and facilitating smoother interactions. - **Design Decisions**: Notable decisions include using IDs for faster data access rather than arrays, incorporating filters into presenters for better versioning and extensibility, and ensuring user-centric query management. - **Launch Announcement**: Cantino concludes the presentation with an announcement about Brainstem's public release on GitHub, inviting viewers to explore its functionalities further. This talk showcases the significant impact Brainstem can have on building rich, efficient, and user-friendly Rails APIs, giving developers robust tools to manage complex architectures without compromising performance or usability.
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