Smartik .NET

Today I want to talk about common design challenges related to architecture of robust APIs, designed to be consumed by multiple clients with different needs. Our use case is the following: We need to build a N-Tier Web REST/SOAP API that is supposed to read/write data from a DB, perform some processing on that data and expose those methods to our API consumers. In addition we have multiple different API clients each with different needs, meaning we can't just expose a rigid set of functions with a defined group of DTOs (Data Transfer Objects). DTO vs POCO Before start diving I want to explain shortly the difference between these two controversial concepts. DTO Objects that are designed to transfer data between edges (i.e. between processes, functions, server & clients etc'). Typically DTOs will contain only simple properties with no behavior. POCO Objects that are designed to reflect the internal business data model. For example if you have an eCommerce platform ...

Intro Now days, any programmer working with a language which conforms to the OOP paradigm, understands the power of Design Patterns (DP). A variety of great books are available for plain English interpretations for the various 23 GoF design patterns and the differences between them. Yet, there are still many controversies regarding how certain patterns differ and how they are related. Design Patterns, at first glance, sometimes appear very similar, not to say identical. When searching answers in forums, articles and blogs, I have encountered in a wide range of responses, starting from "It's the same DP and the only difference is the intend of the developer" and reaching "the questioned DPs are completely different and I can't even understand your question". If you sense that the truth lays somewhere in the between those responses, this new series of posts might interest you. This post is a first in a new series of posts, in which I will try to highl...