Microsoft Eases Mobile Data Access in the Cloud
The recent announcement of Windows Azure Mobile Services included some interesting stuff for you data developers.
As explained by Scott Guthrie, when Windows Azure subscribers create a new mobile service, it automatically is associated with a Windows Azure SQL Database. That provides ready-made support for secure database access. It uses the OData protocol, JSON and RESTful endpoints. The Windows Azure management portal can be used for common tasks such as handling tables, access control and more.
Guthrie provided a C# code snippet to illustrate how developers can write LINQ queries--using strongly typed POCO objects--that get translated into REST queries over HTTP.
The key point about all this is that it enables data access to the cloud from mobile or Windows Store (or desktop) apps without having to create your own server-side code, a somewhat difficult task for many developers. Instead, developers can concentrate on the client and user UI experience. That greatly appeals to me.
In response to a reader query about what exactly is "mobile" about Mobile Services, Guthrie explained:
The reason we are introducing Windows Azure Mobile Services is because a lot of developers don't have the time/skillset/inclination to have to build a custom mobile backend themselves. Instead they'd like to be able to leverage an existing solution to get started and then customize/extend further only as needed when their business grows.
Looks to me like another step forward in the continuing process to ease app development so just about anybody can do it. I'm all for it!
When asked by another reader why this new service only targets SQL Azure (the old name), instead of also supporting BLOBs or table storage, Guthrie replied that it was in response to developers who wanted "richer querying capabilities and indexing over large amounts of data--which SQL is very good at." However, he noted that support for unstructured storage will be added later for those developers who don't require such rich query capabilities.
This initial Preview Release only supports Windows 8 apps to begin with, but support is expected to be added for iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps, according to this announcement. Guthrie explains more about the new product in a Channel9 video, and more information, including tutorials and other resources, can be found at the Windows Azure Mobile Services Dev Center.
What do you think of this new Microsoft offering for mobile data developers? Comment here or drop me a line.
Posted by David Ramel on 08/29/2012