Do most of the popular iPhone apps that communicate with a back end Internet server communicate via web services? I was assuming this was the case.
Some apps I'm thinking about would be: Facebook, Bloomberg, NY Times, ESPN, etc.
+2
A:
Well a web service is just an API - Application Programming Interface
The apps you mentioned would probably all implement their own API for exchanging data between the client and the server so yeah, I would say the answer is yes. You can implement your own API via XML, JSON etc. You just need to define the protocol. You can implement existing concepts in your own apps. Have a look at the following:
Griffo
2010-03-01 20:50:16
Right. Was wondering if most communication was standard HTTP in the means you describe. Or if some apps use sockets, web sockets, or voodoo to communicate.
Marcus
2010-03-01 20:56:16
Mine uses voodoo but the dolls get expensive.
Nick Veys
2010-03-01 21:02:20
Ah, well I guess it depends on the nature of the app and the most appropriate means of exchanging data for the functions it performs. Is there a specific use-case you're curious about?
Griffo
2010-03-01 21:02:45
Probably 99.9% of them use HTTP. Too many snares on the internet laid out for non-HTTP traffic. The exception would probably be multiplayer games, which generally would use a custom communication protocol to the server.
Kendall Helmstetter Gelner
2010-03-01 22:55:38
+1
A:
Most of the Apps that I've written use web services of some sort, I prefer being RESTful, but I have been forced to use SOAP.
jessecurry
2010-03-01 22:50:12