Hallo,
some loose thoughts on mobile app development.
* Users want mobile apps to be quick and snappy as they call it. So if
the app has to do (a lot of) queries to a remote datasource, it won't be
fast and snappy.
* For a while now json is a popular choice with programmers (of mobile apps, who will use
for example json content with javascript), but i'm not convinced it will
stay this popular in the future to come; it all depends on how well the programmer understands data.
The reason: quick simply, json is an hierarchical structure with all the shortcomings that any
hierarchical structure has as a datastore. (cf XML in the 90ties)
Anyway the json datatype is there, a nice addition, giving these options to the developer.
The relational model is likely to continue, mixed and extended with
other forms of organising your data (as it many RDBMS already are). FDWs
are the prime example of this.
What if you want to store your data in a relational model for a mobile
app that's snappy and fast?
* U can't run postgres on the mobile device
* U can use some lightweight relational database like sqlite.
So logically if you want to combine them, having a remote database (eg
postgres) and a local database(eg sqlite) -similar to the way
json/mongodb or couch is used now- would be good for the future. So an
easy async (partial) replication/synchronisation between for example
sqlite and postgres would be very interesting for people who want to
(quickly?) develop snappy mobile apps (often in need of a local and
remote datastore) that benefit from the relational model.
Many app developers don't really care about the data,
they just want to make an app, so they ofen look at frameworks or stacks.
Remember LAMP, i think this was a big reason for the succes of mysql.
Now the same is happening with mongo, eg https://meanjs.org/ and others.
https://thenapstack.wordpress.com/ is nice,
but doesn't really offer a documented solution for those developers.
I probably missed some techs out there;
but this all being said, i would like to thank the community for their work.
--
mvg,
Wim Bertels
--
ROMEO: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.
MERCUTIO: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide
as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve.