Tech - Give SQL a 'REST'


We have seen the world of services evolve taking many shapes and forms like SOA, REST and API's. REST seems to be on the way to becoming the de-facto language of the internet. Most often, we create application and business layer in Services and API's. However, the data layer continues to be tightly bolted with the database. There are now some alternatives emerging. There is an open source (MIT License) data access layer called restSQL.

restSQL Architecture (source: www.restsql.org)

Once set-up, it will provide a REST based access to the database. This means that all the SQL statements like insert, select, update, delete etc can be executed using HTTP GET's  and POST's. Like any other REST service, it provides a platform agnostic method of accessing the database. Since it is hosted as a web application, it can be scaled and managed like any other web application. Lastly, one needs to update the database drivers and configuration only in this layer and not all the clients accessing the database. Overall, I like the simplicity and elegance of the approach.

Of course, as with every approach there are always pros and cons. The downside is, currently the REST interface provides basic CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations. But, this might be enough for most applications. With the proliferation of apps and devices one could potentially create a common set of services to access the data using this approach.

Has anyone used this or tried something similar? Feel free to leave a comment.

References:
Location: Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK

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