DreamFactory Software announced that version 2.0 of its popular open source REST API backend has come out of beta and is now available for immediate download. This second-generation version of the DreamFactory platform has been re-architected for maximum performance at high transaction volumes, and provides numerous enhancements that make it easier for developers to more quickly build and scale modern mobile, web and IoT applications that rely on RESTful access to a growing number of backend data sources and web services.

TOP-LINE ENHANCEMENTS INCLUDE:

  • Optimization for high-transaction volume applications and environments
  • Adopted JSON Web Token (JWT) for completely stateless operation at scale
  • Architectural improvements for Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Docker Containers
  • Comprehensive integration with Active Directory, LDAP, and OAuth
  • Highly flexible, role-based security at the user-app level
  • Custom API creation capabilities with support for API interface editing
  • API customization with multiple server-side scripting languages, including V8 JavaScript, Node.js, and PHP
  • Includes MongoDB for instant integration with the leading NoSQL database
  • Lightweight installation — deploy only the packages users need

“We had a single goal for DreamFactory 2.0 — to catapult it from the best open source REST API backend to the best product of its kind for powering modern applications in both enterprise and consumer settings,” said Bill Appleton, co-founder and CEO of DreamFactory. “This new version incorporates the feedback of thousands of developers, partners, and customers, and we can’t wait to see what they will build using this powerful new release of DreamFactory.”

Read Bill’s post about DreamFactory 2.0 on the DreamFactory blog.

“To enable modern mobile, cloud, and IoT applications, organizations are seeking to have a cleaner separation between backend data sources and front-end development,” commented Al Hilwa, Mobile and Cloud Software Development Program Director at IDC. “Organizations are increasingly looking for an enterprise-grade REST API backend that connects to any data source and gives front-end developers the RESTful services they need at the start of projects.”

Daniel Levine, VP of Operations at Top Dog Solutions Inc., manages a team of developers that provide reporting and database solutions for companies in the aftermarket automotive industry. Top Dog uses DreamFactory to provide secure seamless connectivity between websites, outside vendors, third-party partners and their customers’ in-house systems. “In one month, DreamFactory enabled us to create a reusable secure API gateway that would have otherwise taken us at least a year to create,” said Levine.

“The new version of DreamFactory includes many enhanced features and configurations that reduce complexity and accelerate integration,” said Andy Rai, IT infrastructure manager at Woodward, an independent designer, manufacturer, and service provider of control system solutions and components for the aerospace and energy markets. “The result is less hassle for our front-end developers who don’t want to write a whole backend service or build custom APIs.”

FOCAL AREAS FOR DREAMFACTORY 2.0 SPAN SECURITY, API CUSTOMIZABILITY, MODULARITY, PERFORMANCE, AND SCALABILITY

Security

  • Easy integration with Active Directory and LDAP: companies can use existing user directories for secure application login.
  • Supports authentication using OAuth services: developers can allow end users to login with credentials from sites such as Facebook, Google, GitHub, and Twitter. See the blog post for a detailed description.
  • More flexible role-based access controls at the user-app level: increases role-based security by enabling different access permissions for different applications.
  • Powerful authentication with JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and API keys: provides support for a new web standard that enhances server scalability and increases performance.

API Customization

  • Implement custom REST APIs from scratch with server-side scripts: enables developers to build custom APIs for special situations that require more functionality than provided by DreamFactory’s automatically generated APIs.
  • New server-side scripting languages, including V8js, Node.js, and PHP: developers can now use the scripting languages with which they are already familiar.
  • API configuration UI supports interactive documentation with Swagger: developers can now define the interface of a custom API for documentation and security purposes.

Modularity, Performance, Scalability

  • Fully modular architecture, re-built with the Laravel, most popular and powerful framework for PHP: enables developers to include just the packages they need and to gracefully add new packages in the future.
  • Bitnami packages support either NGINX or Apache web server: developers can run DreamFactory on their web server of choice.
  • MongoDB is bundled, ready to go, as a pre-installed service: gives developers an alternative for agile development by allowing them to take advantage of the more scalable and superior performance of MongoDB (compared to SQL).
  • Improved scalability and performance for highly transactional applications: performance improvements implemented in DreamFactory 2.0 support more transactions per second given available hardware, and scalability improvements allow companies to predict the hardware necessary for any desired level of performance.