Ask HN: What is the fastest way to build an api for mobile back end?

by sounds231 on 8/9/2016, 6:33:38 PM with 2 comments
If you were going to build a consumer mobile app as fast as possible, as a one-man or one-woman dev team, what technologies and tools would you use to build out the server side? Say you have 1 week to put together an MVP.

One answer is that one should use the technologies he/she is most familiar with, but what would you recommend to skilled engineers who are most experienced with client development?

Specifically, are there tools that significantly speed up the api development process, e.g. scaffolding tools, or stuff like Amazon API Gateway + Lambda?

  • by HalcyonicStorm on 8/9/2016, 6:49:06 PM

    Depends on what the requirements are. If its a CRUD backend, its hard to beat Ruby on Rails on Heroku. I tend to shy away from backends as a service because of situations like Parse shutting down. They're worth considering if its a short term project for a client.

  • by mtmail on 8/9/2016, 8:06:56 PM

    For an MVP you might be able to write specifications in https://apiblueprint.org/tools.html format and then have the tools create (mock) the server for you.