Creating a Cloud Backend for Your Android App Using Parse

We previously published an article on using Parse to provide a backend for iOS apps and thought we should write one for the Android developers who want to know how to integrate the Parse SDK in their app.
If you read the previous article, you can skip the introduction. We wanted the articles to be stand-alone tutorials, so you don’t have to read the previous one to follow along with this one

Introduction

With the increased use of mobile devices, it is common for applications to offer features such as backup storage, data sync, data sharing etc. Building stand alone applications that only function and save their data on the device they are installed on is at times not feasible. A backend is usually needed where data can be saved and manipulated for the app to provide the service it was intended for.
Building this requires time, a different skill set and other resources (e.g. servers, push notification services, etc). Fortunately, there are several platforms that provide ready-made customizable backends that you can integrate with your apps. These are known as ‘Backend as a Service’, or BaaS in short.

Pros and Cons of Using BaaS

Pros

• Saves time and resources.
• Provides different services in one package. Most of the available BaaS vendors not only provide backend cloud storage for you data, but also services as push notifications, analytics, social network integration, etc.
• Caters to scaling. The BaaS platforms are built for scaling and as a developer, you will not need to do any extra work if you were to gain a large amount of users. It will cost you more though, as you may move up the pricing plan.
• Easy to make changes. You can easily make changes to your application’s functionality without requiring a lot of rewrites to its backend. It is easy to change your database models using the platform’s dashboard. This comes in handy to anyone following the iterative ‘lean startup’ methodology of shipping and improving the app based on usage data.

Cons

• Using a BaaS can be expensive. While most of these services offer a free package for a certain number of requests a month, it can get costly if your app was to take off and gain many users.
• You might experience vendor lock-in where a switch to another platform is difficult. But this is becoming less of a problem as most services are built to allow for easier migrations. You might have to give up some services as not all BaaS platforms offer the same services.
• A huge disadvantage you should consider before using a BaaS is the dependence of your app on a third-party service. A provider might make changes to its service which you will either have to tolerate or look for another solution. There is also the possibility of a service being shut down which will be a huge inconvenience as you will be forced to migrate your data to another provider or to your own backend. An example of this is the recent shutdown of StackMob which forced developers to migrate their data.

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