Working with Data.

 Database integration for mobile devices.

 Data sets and data providers for mobile applications.
 XML for application data storage and interchange, and other remote data access options.

Database Integration for Mobile Devices.

DATA INTEGRATION FOR MOBILE DEVICES – MOBILETOGETHER
WORKS WITH FLOWFORCE SERVER

When an offsite manager can read and reply to company email on a mobile phone, it’s only a
short step to wanting access to all up-to-the-minute company data from the most convenient
device.

Altova MobileTogether is a unique cross-platform mobile development solution that includes

functionality to work with FlowForce Server, and by extension MapForce Server, to bring data
integration results to mobile devices to integrate business intelligence dashboards, elegant
enterprise forms, and much more.

Here’s how a month-to-date sales report can appear on a mobile phone as a MobileTogether
solution:
When the solution launches, the sales manager selects the region and product, the report is
generated by execution of the FlowForce Server job running on a server back in the enterprise
data center, and the results are displayed.

The MobileTogether Designer can interface directly with FlowForce Server to define data
sources for mobile solutions that request execution of FlowForce Server jobs. This means all
compute-intensive data integration tasks can be performed by high-end servers, and only the
results need to be delivered to the mobile device.

Other MobileTogether data sources could be local data structures saved on the mobile device,
files stored on the MobileTogether Server, XML or HTML structures read via HTTP requests or
even relational databases.

In the example report, a second results page displays sales rep standings in a scrollable window,
as seen below on an Android phone. Note that the graph and data tables are automatically
rendered to accommodate the display of each specific device.
A sales manager will likely want to see reports for more than one product within a region, so a
combo box provides immediate access to other products (shown again on an iPhone).

Development is simplified because all the report data is delivered to the mobile device based on
a single FlowForce Server data mapping. A single Mobile Together solution that triggers
execution of the FlowForce Server job is created once in the MobileTogether Designer and
deployed once to the MobileTogether Server.
The data integration task that generates the sales report combines the results of several SQL
queries against multiple database tables and incorporates a Web Service lookup to get the up-to-
the-minute currency exchange rate. FlowForce Server results caching empowers instant data –
delivered on demand to busy managers on the field.

How to Choose the Right Mobile App Database for Your Application
Mobile App Database is the heart of any application whether it's an Android or iOS app. Here are
some key criteria to choose the right mobile app database.

How to Choose the Right Mobile App Database for Your Application

Whether you are building a brand new mobile application or want to add more features to the

existing app, choosing the right database can be overwhelming given all the choices available

today. There’s a huge possibility that your current database is not sufficient to handle millions of

users and frequent updates.

Crisp a messaging platform built its original platform with Firebase as the database. But, they

quickly ran into the following challenges:

 Difficulties in handling complex queries

 Storing data offline

 Managing object relations at a web-scale

For Crisp, their users needed to be able to effectively communicate with their customers. But

customers were often missing important communications sent via the app. Thus Firebase proved

to be a bad fit here!

They, later on, moved to a SQL database for data storage and MongoDB to store the messages

for better performance and scalability.

Crisp isn’t the only story where a database dramatically compromised the quality and

performance of an application.

In the face of disruption, Uber had to migrate their database from PostgreSQL to MySQL. Uber

made this choice as they faced inefficient database replication features and constant migration

from one PostgreSQL version to another.

Popular Mobile App Databases

Here are some popular databases to build Android apps and iPhone apps. You can select the best

database for your mobile app based on your requirements.

MySQL: An open-source, multi-threaded, and easy-to-use SQL database.

PostgreSQL: A powerful, open-source object-based, relational database that is highly

customizable.

Amazon DynamoDB: It’s a fully-managed, serverless key-value NoSQL database service with

consistent single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.

Redis: An open-source, low maintenance, key/value store that is used for data caching in mobile

applications.

MongoDB Realm– It’s a fully managed backend service to build, deploy and scale mobile apps

effortlessly. It is known for its ability to build offline-first apps and sync data between Realm

mobile database and the cloud.

Memcached: A distributed cache system that is multi-threaded, and used primarily for caching

objects to speed up applications by alleviating database load.

Elasticsearch: Known for its ability to fetch faster results from a large number of inventory

items. It is widely used as a distributed text search engine for working with large datasets in real

time.

MariaDB: A popular open-source relational database that was created by the original developers

of MySQL.
Cassandra: A free and open source, NoSQL database which is designed to handle a large

amount of unstructured data at any scale.

SQLite: Embedded database, common usage is to provide local data storage capabilities on

mobile phones.

Neo4j: Powered by a native graph database, Neo4j maintains data relationships and delivers

unmatched performance by providing lightning-fast queries and deeper context for analytics.

InfluxDB: An open-source, fast, and time series database that is written in Go.

RethinkDB: An open-source, and document-oriented database which stores data in JSON format

and sync in real-time with the application.

Riak DB: A distributed NoSQL database, which offers high availability, fault tolerance, and data

resiliency as its core feature.

CouchDB: A document-oriented NoSQL database that uses JSON to store data and javascript as

its main query language.

Couchbase: A full Stack NoSQL database that supports offline sync, full CRUD, and query

capabilities and runs locally on the device.

ArangoDB: An open-source NoSQL database that is known for its multi-model, graph, and geo

algorithm features.

Selecting the right database for Mobile applications(with multiple layers of data) is a big

challenge. I was shocked to see the challenges that developers face when they integrate mobile

apps with databases.

General Criteria to Select Right Databases for Mobile Apps

What is the structure of your data?

Structure focuses on how you need to store and retrieve your data. Mobile applications deal with

data in a variety of formats. Offline apps store all the data on the mobile device whereas Online

apps depend on access to a server for their stored data to function. For example, E-commerce

apps fall into the online apps category.

There are other types of apps called Synchronized apps. These apps store all their data on the

mobile device and thus can be used offline, but the stored data may be updated on the server

when the device is periodically online.

What’s the size of your data?

The size of data refers to the quantity of the data you need to store and retrieve as critical

application data. The amount of data may vary depending on a combination of the data structure

selected, and the ability of the database to differentiate data across multiple file systems and

servers. So you need to choose our database keeping in mind the overall volume of data

generated by the application at any specific time and the size of data to be retrieved from the

database.

Speed and Scale

Speed and Scale address the time it takes to service incoming reads and writes to your

application. Some databases are designed to optimize read-heavy apps, while others are designed

to support write-heavy solutions. Selecting a database that can handle your app’s I/O needs goes

a long way to a scalable architecture.

For example, MongoDB is faster than MySQL when it comes to handling a large volume of

unstructured data. On the other hand, MySQL would be faster for structured data.

Data Modeling

Before you choose any database, it’s advisable to perform Data Modelling. It is a representation

of the data structures to be stored in the database and a very powerful expression of the business

requirements.

Data Modelling is very helpful if your app contains features like search queries, reporting,

location-based features, etc. Such apps require multiple databases to manage different types of

data. For example, Uber uses MySQL, MongoDB, and a lot of other databases. They use

MongoDB for their CDN and MySQL for business logic. Using MongoDB in their case made it

very simple to store high-volume incoming data.

Data Security
When you’re using synchronized and decentralized storage it is important to access, transmit,

and store data securely. To cover this completely, you need to address authentication, data at

rest, data in motion, and read/write access.

Authentication should be flexible and allow for the use of standard, public, and custom

authentication providers. Support for anonymous access is also important for many apps. For

data at rest on the server and client, you’ll want support for both file system encryption and data-

level encryption. For data in motion, communication should be over a secure channel like SSL or

TLS. For data read/write access, the database should offer granular control over what data can be

accessed and modified by users.

Support for the multiple mobile app platforms

Are you planning on supporting iOS, Android, or both? What about IoT devices and

wearables? If you plan to support more platforms later, you have to consider that now. A lot of

mobile applications today evolve to add a web companion app or a native desktop app, so that’s

something you have to think about.

If you are building mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms then you can use React

Native framework. It is easy to simultaneously develop for both Android and iOS as developers

can share code on both platforms. In addition, it supports all types of databases.

Selection Criteria Based on Use Cases

Data Synchronization between local database and backend server

Many mobile applications have features that work offline and require an internet connection to

save local data to the app’s server. For example, In Dropbox, you can edit and create new files,

even when you are offline. When you have connected to the internet any changes you made will

sync to the cloud.

Data synchronization is a critical part while developing a mobile application. You have to

carefully analyze the use cases for your application and know what applies best for each. Are

your mobile users going to read data only? Do they modify existing data?
Choose the local database which provides a sync service to automatically store the local database

to the cloud server and vice-versa.

Couchbase and realm are the popular databases that provide Data synchronization between the

local database and backend server.

Mobile Applications With Multiple Layers of Data

Many applications contain a multi-layer data model in which one set of “fields and tables” is

dependent on another set of “fields and tables”. In such apps, it becomes difficult to manage the

data.

Generally, most apps change over time and require modifications and changes in the database

structure. With a structured database(e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL), you won’t be able to make the

changes frequently.

Using an unstructured database like MongoDB Realm would bring flexibility to change without

going through the painful process that you would find yourself in with structured databases.

MongoDB allows you to work with unstructured data in multiple layers, adding new app features

with flexibility – without the need to change the overall structure of your database.

Users who have a low network issue

When any SQL databases lose network connection with the client-side storage, it typically

generates an error message instead of transferring the data as needed. If this problem occurs

frequently, you may need to re-configure your database. Apart from that, there are other

challenges to dealing with MySQL and network interruptions such as:

 Persisting local data including unsynchronized transactions and app state

 Getting mobile transactions and operations back to the main server-side database

Above listed issues occur on behalf of network interrupts, keeping a database that offers better

reliability and resists connection loss is a better option in this case.

For highly scalable mobile applications

When you think of scaling your application, you think of adding more resources in the form of

servers and making the database engine more efficient. The database should be able to utilize the

resources and handle the parallel processing, which means the Database must be multi-threaded.

Multithreading allows a database to schedule parallel tasks on the available resources and

minimize the workload on the server side. Apart from multithreading, Distributed Design of a

database is significantly important for scalability.

In a distributed designed database, you can split up the services on different threads to minimize

the workload on the main database. This drastically improves the parallel processing of

databases.

Pushing new app updates and database changes

Pushing new updates to the mobile app requires some changes to the local database. So the

developers need to keep up with old database versions. Let’s understand how challenging and

important it is for developers.

For example, some of your app users are using the V1.0 version and you recently pushed V3.0.

Now V1.0 users update to V3.0. Note that these users have skipped V2.0 altogether.

The local database you choose should be able to handle such scenarios. The database should be

able to add new fields and tables as well as can manage old APIs and database structures for the

users who use the latest app version.

You can choose SQLite with any server-side database, and it would work fine. SQLite has a

built-in OpenHelper tool to check database versions and to call functions such as onUpgrade or

onCreate.

Resolve data conflicts between devices

A mobile application that modifies the same data on multiple devices simultaneously can create

conflicts. The database needs to support a mechanism for resolving those conflicts. The

flexibility of the conflict resolution mechanism is important and should allow resolution

automatically, on the device, in the cloud, by an external system, and by a human.

For more specific use cases, refer to this table to determine which database would be more

suitable for your specific requirement.

 Best Practices for Working with Mobile App Databases
Predictive Caching

Predictive caching can be applied to improve the performance of your mobile app by looking at

how, when, and where your users are using your application. A segment of users can be

identified and can be served with specific information they always look up based on their

behavioral traits.

The best part is that the data can be made available and cached locally before the users even log-

in to your app. MongoDB Realm provides predictive caching that allows developers to serve

users with predicted-cached data before they even ask for it.

Consider Databases that use Multiversion Concurrency Control (MVCC) Method

Support for Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC) allows simultaneous access without

blocking the threads or processes involved.

MVCC allows a reader to view a snapshot of the data before the writer’s changes, allowing the

read and write operations to continue in parallel.

For instance, look at this table to see which databases have MVCC implementation:
Low Latency Challenges

Low Latency is crucial for real-time applications and online gaming applications. High latency

leaves the app users with a bad impression. Anything that goes below 500ms is considered to be

a high latency.

Optimizing latency is a continuous cycle, and each database has its limits to what extent it can be

replicated or optimized.

There are multiple methods to reduce latency, and replication of the database is the most popular.

Most companies replicate their production database to separate read/write, request queries, and

static content operations.

Here are some databases with lower latency than the average:

 Amazon DynamoDB

 MongoDB Realm

 PostgreSQL for transactional operations in real time

 RethinkDB built for real-time application

 PipelineDB, SQL database for streaming applications

Caching databases to reduce the load

We often add a caching layer to reduce the load on servers. We often cache data on this caching

layer to prevent a recurring request for the same data. This reduces the number of requests going

to the server and renders our server efficient for performance.

Mobile applications like Amazon get lots of recurring requests. You can reduce the load from the

server by adding the caching layer. It can handle millions of requests with the lowest latency.

You can use Redis and Memcached for such requirements.

Conclusion

Because mobile apps are subject to change either their feature improvement or new feature

update, it will affect the database. These criteria will help you to determine the right databases

for your mobile app. What’s important here is to find a highly flexible database.

Having experience with developing a variety of enterprise mobile applications for our clients,

we consider future requirements and scalability to choose the right mobile app database. Let us

know if you are facing scalability issues or want to build data-heavy applications from scratch.

Best Databases For Mobile Apps 2022 – Choosing the Best One
It’s pretty challenging to pick the best when we have a plethora of options. The same happens
with mobile app developers also. They find it hard to choose the right database for an app.
Here, the right database means the best suitable database that assists in building a mobile app and
updating an existing one. The mobile app database determines if your app holds the caliber to
handle multiple users (old or new) and regular maintenance and updates.
This post will discuss the criteria for choosing the right database, top mobile app databases, and
more. We ensure that this blog will give you what you want when picking the right mobile app
database.

What Is A Mobile App Database?

An organized collection of well-structured information according to the app’s needs is a mobile
app database.
The databases are housed electronically on a desktop or laptop and managed, edited, and updated
utilizing database management systems (DBSM). The combination of the DBMS, the stored
information, and the app, all associatively make a database system, or, we can say, a database.
In the database, the data is stored as rows and columns which makes data management and
processing fast and easy.

What Is The Need For Mobile App Databases?

Besides an obvious requirement of a database, there are other needs for databases also.
The everyday use of a database is to store a large amount of data in a better way. Let’s know
about some more usages.
Data Security
Mobile app databases ensure ultimate data security from hacking and theft. DBMS arrives with
various user logins, and every time the new users need permission to access the database.
Pointing Out Errors
The information that app databases store is highly dependable as DBMS comes with a checking
system that points out errors that need removal.
Easy & Fast Search
Developers can quickly search through mobile app databases using Data Query Language
(DQL).
Hassle-Free Updates
DBMS includes Data Manipulation Languages (DML), which ensure timely and seamless
updates of the app database.

Types Of Mobile App Databases

You may find it surprising to know that mobile app databases are of different types. Let’s find
out.
Distributed Database

When the data is stored across distinct physical locations in a database, it’s a distributed
database. It can be located in various computers placed in the exact physical location or scattered
over a network of interconnected computers.
Centralized Database
A database where data is stored in a “center” spot, it’s a centralized database. Here the “center”
location states the database is saved in a single place but can be accessed from any external
resource.
For instance, When you have the complete data on your work PC, you will have easy access to it
from your PC if that database is a centralized one.
Cloud Database

Cloud-based database apps perform in the cloud. Such apps are a great innovation as they come
with a large amount of space to house data. Cloud is the technology over the internet that
functions as a centralized database as they are always available, and one can access it from
anywhere.
NoSQL Database
The only type of database that works uniquely from all the other application databases is
NoSQL. General mobile app databases store data in rows and columns patterns, but NoSQL
arrives with a flexible schema that permits a developer to house data in various shapes and sizes.
Commercial Database

As organizations run on enterprise-based database apps, they need an extensive database to

house employee information.
Here arrive commercial app databases. These provide login controls and ample storage to ensure
data security.
End-User Database
When we enter our details on any social media page or online shopping site, that information is
saved on the end-user database. Also, if you have seen the cookies that we accept while browsing
websites, the databases store cookies that help personalize your online experience.
The whole process takes place in the background and doesn’t disturb any user information.
Relational Database

The growing firms always try creating relationships between two or more app databases. This is
known as relational data, and a relational database eases handling such sort of data.
The data is stored in rows and columns in this app database, making it easy to build relationships
between databases.
What Are The Best Databases For Mobile Apps?
Let’s now check out some top databases that are popular in developing Android apps.
ArangoDB

An open-source and free native multi-model database system, ArangoDB supports three data
models with a unified query language, AQL, and one database core.
Written in: C++, JavaScript
CouchDB

An open-source document-oriented database, Apache CouchDB uses various formats and

protocols to transfer, store, and process its data.
Written in: C, JavaScript, C++,
Firebase

A database that helps build and run successful apps is Firebase. It is supported by Google and
preferred by app development companies, from startups to global enterprises. Furthermore, it’s a
cross-platform API with minimal need for setup. And, one can access it easily as a real-time
database from his mobile device.
RethinkDB

An open-source and free, distributed document-oriented database, RethinkDB stores JSON

documents with dynamic schemas and is best for pushing real-time updates for query results to
apps.
Written in: Java, Python, JavaScript, C++
SQLite
A lighter version of the popular MySQL database, SQLite is an embedded app database that
permits developers to provide mobile phone users the local data storage.
Written in: C
Realm

An open-source database, Realm is developer-friendly and an alternative to SQLite and

CoreData. It starts in minutes, ports the app in hours, and saves work for weeks.
Written in: Swift, Objective-C, Java, Kotlin, C#, and JavaScript.
MariaDB

A commercially supported fork of the MySQL relational DBMS, MariaDB, is intended to stay
open-source and free software.
Written in: C, C++, Perl
MongoDB

A source-available cross-platform database-oriented database program, MongoDB uses JSON-

like documents with operational schemes.
Written in: JavaScript, Python, Java, PHP, C, C++, Ruby, Perl
Amazon DynamoDB

A fully managed proprietary NoSQL database service, Amazon DynamoDB supports document
and key-value data structures. It helps in building modern apps at any scale with high
performance.
PostgreSQL
A unique relational database, PostgreSQL is the best database for Android and iOS apps.
Developers can customize this database as they want; that’s why it’s the most preferred mobile
app database.
Written in: C
Couchbase

A distributed NoSQL cloud database, Couchbase delivers exceptional versatility, scalability,

financial value, and performance across on-premises, cloud, edge computing, distributed cloud,
and hybrid deployments.
Written in: C++, Erlang, C, Go, Java
Riak DB

A distributed NoSQL key-value data store, the Riak DB, provides high availability, operational
simplicity, fault tolerance, and scalability.
Written in: Erlang
InfluxDB

An open-source time-series database, InfluxDB stores and retrieves time series data in fields.
Written in: Go
Cassandra

An open-source and free, wide-column, distributed store, Apache Cassandra is a NoSQL DBMS
that handles vast amounts of data across various commodity servers.
Written in: Java
Memcached
A general-purpose distributed memory caching system, Memcached is best for speeding up
dynamic database-driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM.
Written in: C
Redis

An in-memory data structure store, Redis is used as an in-memory, distributed, cache, key-value
database, and message broker.
Written in: C
MySQL

An open-source relational DBMS, MySQL is a fully managed database service used to deploy
cloud-native apps.
Written in: C, C++
SAP Adaptive Server

Also called a Sybase SQL Server, SAP Adaptive Server is a relational model database that offers
availability and high performance to process targeted transactions. It lowers the operational cost
of app development with a relational database server. Besides, it deploys on infrastructure as a
service (IaaS) and on-premise.
Written in: C, C++
Solr
A blazing-fast, popular, and open-source platform, Solr is developed on Apache Lucene. It’s
highly scalable, reliable, and fault-tolerant, offering distributed indexing, automated failover and
recovery, replication and load-balanced querying, and more.

Written in: Java

IBM Db2

It is powered by AI and developed for deeper insights. It can be available anywhere through the
IBM Cloud Pak for the Data. It combines an AI-infused, proven, enterprise-ready data
management system with AI and an integrated data platform developed on the scalable, security-
rich Red Hat OpenShift foundation.

Written in: C, C++, assembly, Java

FileMaker

It’s the world’s top workplace innovation platform that helps customize apps and automate
workflows. You can develop custom apps to streamline manual processes, create new
efficiencies, and reduce costs using its low code.
HBase

An open-source non-relational distributed database, Apache HBase offers real-time, random

read/write access to your Big Data. It’s an open-source, versioned, distributed, non-relational
database model.
Written in: Java
SAP HANA

A column-oriented, in-memory, relational DBMS, SAP HANA performs like the software
running a database server to store and retrieve data as the apps request.
Written in: C, C++
Oracle

A multi-model DBMS, Oracle is best for online transaction processing, mixed database
workloads, and data warehousing.

Written in: Assembly language, C, C++

Splunk

Dedicated to storing data securely, Splunk adheres to global and industry compliance initiatives.
It’s an advanced database technology required that uses indexing to search and address the stored
log files.
Microsoft Access

A DBMS that merges the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a GUI and software-
development tools, Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a venture from Microsoft.

Elasticsearch

A free, distributed, and open search and analytics engine, Elasticsearch is developed on Apache
Lucene. It’s a central component of the Elastic Stack, a set of open and free tools for enrichment,
data ingestion, analysis, storage, and visualization.

Written in: Java

Teradata
A database service provider, Teradata offers database and analytics-relevant products, software,
and services. It’s best for enterprise analytics and is a connected multi-cloud data platform that
unifies everything.

Microsoft Azure SQL

It’s a managed cloud database that runs on a cloud computing platform. It is a fully managed
platform as a service (PaaS) database engine that manages many database management
functions, like patching, upgrading, monitoring, and backups with no user involvement.

Hive

A data warehouse software project, Apache Hive offers an SQL-like interface to query the data
stored in any database and file systems integrated with Hadoop. It is crafted to handle petabytes
of data quickly using batch processing. Moreover, it is easy to scale and distribute based on your
requirements.

Written in: Java

Microsoft SQL Server

A relational DBMS, Microsoft SQL Server is a software product that is primarily used to store
and retrieve data as the software apps request. It is best at managing information.

Written in: C, C++

OrientDB
An open-source NoSQL DBMS, OrientDB is a multi-model database, supporting document,
graph, value/key, and object models. It combines the strength of graphs and the flexibility of
documents into a high-performing and scalable operational database.

Written in: Java

Neo4j

A graph DBMS, Neo4j, offers data scientists and developers the most advanced and trusted tools
to develop intelligent apps and ML workflows. It’s available as a self-hosted and fully managed
cloud service.

Written in: Java

ORMLite

A lightweight ORM library for java apps, ORMLite offers standard features of an ORM tool for
general use cases with no added complexity and overhead of any ORM frameworks.

Written in: Java

Firebirdsql

An open-source SQL relational DBMS, Firebirdsql runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS,
and many Unix platforms.

Written in: C++

Berkeley DB
A software library, Berkeley DB offers a high-performance embedded database for value/key
data. Also, it provides a simple function-call API for data management and access.

Written in: C

What are the general criteria to choose the right databases for
mobile apps?
Various criteria assist in picking a suitable database for your mobile apps.
Structure of Your Data

The structure points out the way you want to store and retrieve your data. Mobile apps deal with
data in different formats.
Offline applications store entire data on mobile devices, whereas Online applications rely on
server access to let the store data function.

Size of Your Data

The data size is the data quantity that you want to store and retrieve as crucial app data. The
amount of data may vary according to a combination of chosen data structure, and the caliber of
the database to differentiate data across various file systems and servers.
So, you should pick a mobile database considering the entire volume of data generated by an app
at any particular time and the data size you want to retrieve from the database.

Data Modeling
Before selecting a mobile app database, you need to perform data modeling as suggested by
experts. It’s a representation of data structures that you want to store in the database and a robust
expression of the business needs.
Data modeling is best when your app holds features, such as reporting, search queries, location-
based features, and more. Such mobile apps need various databases to handle distinct sorts of
data.
For instance, Uber uses various databases, like MongoDB, MySQL, etc. databases help it store a
high amount of incoming data.

Speed & Scale

Scale and speed let us know the time incoming reads and writes to your app, demand to service.
Some databases assist in optimizing read-heavy applications, while others are best to support
write-heavy solutions.
Choosing a database with the caliber to handle an app’s I/O requirements leads to a scalable
architecture.
For instance, MongoDB may be faster than MySQL to handle a large volume of unstructured
data, but the latter is faster for structured data.

Data Security
While using decentralized and synchronized storage, it’s essential to securely transmit, access,
and store data. For this, you would address authentication, data in motion, data at rest, and
read/write access.
Authentication needs to be flexible and permit the use of public, standard, and custom
authentication providers. For data at rest on the client and server, you need support for data-level
encryption and file system encryption. Communication needs to carry over a secure channel for
data in motion, such as TLS or SSL.

Mobile App Platforms Choice

If you are planning to make apps for one or more platforms and thinking of deciding later, then
you should consider them now.
Today, various mobile apps are emerging to add a native desktop app or a web app. So, you
should also think in this direction.
If you want to develop mobile applications for Android and iOS platforms, you can use the React
Native framework. It would be easier to build for both platforms simultaneously, as the
developers hold the caliber to share code on both mobile app development platforms. Moreover,
it supports all sorts of databases.

Selection Criteria Based On Use Cases

Now, let’s check out the selection criteria as per the use cases:

Mobile Apps With Various Data Layers

Many apps that hold a multi-layer data model are tough to manage data as the “fields and tables”
stay dependent on one another.
Also, various apps change over time and demand alterations and modifications in the database
structure.
If you choose a structured database, like PostgreSQL, you will fail to make changes frequently.
So, selecting an unstructured database, such as MongoDB, you would find it flexible to modify.

Data Synchronization Between Backend Server And Local Database

Many apps come with features that allow them to perform offline but demand an internet
connection to store local data on the application’s server.
For instance, Dropbox facilitates editing and crafting new files even in offline mode. And when
you go online, the changes get synced to the cloud.
So, choose the app database that can allow automatic local database sync to the cloud server and
vice-versa, like Couchbase.

For Highly Scalable Mobile Apps

While scaling your app, you think of appending more resources as servers that lead to an
efficient database.
The database needs to be multi-threaded according to which it should hold the caliber to use the
resources and manage the parallel processing.
Multithreading facilitates a database to schedule the parallel jobs on the current resources and
reduce the workload on the server side.
Furthermore, you should also have a distributed database to split the services on varied threads to
decrease the workload of the main database. This leads to improved parallel processing of
databases.

Resolve Data Conflicts Between Devices

A mobile app that changes the same data on various devices simultaneously may end up with
conflicts. The database should always be supportive of conflict resolution mechanisms. It’s
essential and should permit resolution automatically in the cloud, on the device, by a human, or
by an external system.

Users With A Low Network Issue

While transferring the required data, if the network connection of any SQL database disconnects
from the client-side storage, it leads to an error message. And if it happens frequently, it may
demand database re-configuration.
So picking a database that provides better reliability and doesn’t lose connection frequently is
better in this case.

Pushing Database Changes & New App Updates

If we want to update our mobile app, it will demand some modifications to the local database.
So, developers should stay updated with old database versions.
The database you select should facilitate the addition of new tables and fields and handle old
APIs and database structures for the users who have the latest app version.

What Are The Best Practices For Work With mobile App
Databases?
Let’s now check out the best practices to consider for working with mobile app databases.

Consider Databases That Follow Multiversion Concurrency Control (MVCC) Method.

Such a method permits simultaneous access with no interference in processes or threads.
MVCC facilitates a reader to check the data’s snapshot before the writers make changes by
permitting read and write operations parallelly.
 Database MVCC

Firebird Yes

MongoDB Yes

Realm Yes

MySQL Partially, when used with XtraDB

MariaDB Partially, when used with XtraDB

RethinkDB Yes

InformixDB Yes

PostgreSQL Yes, but inefficient

MemBase Yes

Predictive Caching
It is best to improve the mobile app’s performance by looking at when, how, and where users use
your app. Based on their behavioral traits, you can identify the users’ segment and serve them
with specific information they always want.
You can cache and make data available locally before the users log in to your unique app ideas.
You can also pick MongoDB as it offers predictive caching that permits developers to serve the
users with predictive-cached data before they ask for it.

Database Caching To bring down the load

We should append a caching layer to decrease the servers’ load. Moreover, we need to cache
data on this caching layer to avoid a recurring request for the same data. This lowers the number
of requests approaching the server and makes the server’s performance more efficient.
For example, mobile apps like Amazon receive various recurring requests. One can decrease the
server’s load by appending the caching layer. It holds the caliber to manage millions of requests
with the lowest latency. You can also use Memcached and Redic for such needs.

Low Latency Challenges

Low latency is vital for online gaming and real-time apps. High latency brings a wrong
impression to the app users. Anything that moves down from 500ms is high latency.
So, you can follow any method to reduce the replication and latency of the database. Moreover,
you can choose databases with, on an average lower latency:
 PostgreSQL – for transactional operations in real-time.
 Pipeline DB – SQL database best for streaming apps.
 RethinkDB – best for real-time apps.
 MongoDB

Conclusion
Choosing a database is an important decision as it may lead to the making or breaking of your
app. You need to check whether your chosen mobile app database fits the criteria mentioned
above.
We hope this post gives you what you expect relevant to mobile app databases and finding a
flexible mobile app database.
If you want to create a mobile app, hire the best app development company that has skilled iOS
and Android app developers who can turn your app ideas into reality.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

What is XML (Extensible Markup Language)?
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is used to describe data. The XML standard is a flexible
way to create information formats and electronically share structured data via the public internet,
as well as via corporate networks.

XML is a markup language based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) used for
defining markup languages.

XML's primary function is to create formats for data that are used to encode information for
documentation, database records, transactions, and many other types of data. XML data may be
used for creating different content types that are generated by building dissimilar types of content
-- including web, print, and mobile content -- that is based on the XML data.

Like Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is also based on the SGML standard, XML
documents are stored as American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) files and
can be edited using any text editor.

What is XML used for?

XML's primary function is to provide a "simple text-based format for representing structured
information," according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the standards body for the
web, including the following:

 underlying data formats for applications such as those in Microsoft Office;

 technical documentation;

 configuration options for application software;

 books;

 transactions; and

 invoices.

XML enables sharing of structured information among and between the following:

 programs and programs;

 programs and people; and

 locally and across networks.

W3C defines the XML standard and recommends its use for web content. While XML and
HTML are both based on the SGML platform, W3C has also defined the XHTML and XHTLM5
document formats that mirror, respectively, the HTML and HTML5 standards for web content.

How does XML work?

XML works by providing a predictable data format. XML is strict on formatting; if the
formatting is off, programs that process or display the encoded data will return an error.

For an XML document to be considered well-formed -- that is, conforming to XML syntax and
able to be read and understood by an XML parser -- it must be valid XML code. All XML
documents consist of elements; an element acts as a container for data. The beginning and end of
an element are identified by opening and closing tags, with other elements or plain data within.
XML works by providing properly formatted data that can be reliably processed by programs
designed to handle XML inputs. For example, technical documentation may include
an <warning> element similar to that shown in the following snippet of XML code:

<warning>
<para>
<emphasis type="bold">May cause serious injury</emphasis>
Exercise extreme caution as this procedure could result in serious injury or death if
precautions are not taken.
</para>
</warning>

In this example, this data is interpreted and displayed in different ways, depending on the form
factor of the technical documentation. On a webpage, this element could be displayed in the
following way:

WARNING: Exercise extreme caution as this procedure could result in serious injury or death if
precautions are not taken.

The same XML code is rendered differently on an appliance user interface (UI) or in print. This
element could be interpreted to display the text tagged as emphasis differently, such as having it
appear in red and with flashing highlights. In printed form, the content might be provided in a
different font and format.

XML documents do not define presentation, and there are no default XML tags. Most XML
applications use predefined sets of tags that differ, depending on the XML format. Most users
rely on predefined XML formats to compose their documents, but users may also define
additional XML elements as needed.

XML example
The following is an example of a simple XML file:

<?XML version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<library>
<book>
<title>The Fire Next Time</title>
<author>Baldwin, James</author>
 </book>
<book>
<title>Beloved</title>
<author>Morris, Toni</author>
</book>
<book>
<title>The Messiah of Stockholm</title>
<author>Ozick, Cynthia</author>
</book>
</library>

The first line in this example, called the XML prolog or XML declaration, specifies the version of
XML being used, as well as the character encoding scheme. This declaration, if present, must be
the first line of the file.

The prolog specifies that the file contains XML version 1.0 data, encoded using Unicode
Transformation Format 8 (UTF-8) encoding, which is the same as ASCII text and specifies the
American English character set. Different character encodings can be used for different language
character sets, but all XML files must be composed of Unicode characters. Any Unicode
character can be represented in an XML file using a numeric character reference with a string in
this format:

&#xXXXX;

In this format, the letters "XXXX" are substituted with a valid hexadecimal Unicode numeric
code.

XML elements
The logical structure of an XML file requires that all data in the file be encapsulated within an
XML element called the root element or document element. This element identifies the type of
data contained in the file; in the example above, the root element is <library>.

The root element contains other elements that define the different parts of the XML document; in
the example above, the root element contains <book> elements, which, in turn, consist of the two
elements <title> and <author>.
All XML elements must be properly terminated for an XML file to be considered well-formed.
This means that a tag must be properly terminated with an opening and closing tag, like this
paragraph element that would be a part of a document:

<para>This is an example of an XML tag for a paragraph.</para>

A tag can also be empty, in which case it is terminated with a forward slash. In this example,
an empty self-terminating paragraph tag is used to insert an extra space in a document:

<para />

XML enables users to define their additional elements if needed. In the preceding example, an
XML author might define new elements for the publisher, date of publication, International
Standard Book Number, and any other relevant data. The elements can also be defined to enforce
rules regarding the contents of the elements.

XML entities
XML elements can also contain predefined entities, which are used for special reserved XML
characters. Custom entities can be defined to insert a predefined string of characters for inclusion
in an XML file.

The five standard predefined XML entities are the following:

1. &lt; -- The less than symbol (<), also known as the open angle bracket, is normally
used in XML to indicating the start of an XML tag. This entity is used when the open
angle bracket is part of the content of the XML file.

2. &gt; -- The greater than symbol (>), also known as the close angle bracket, is
normally used in XML to indicating the end of an XML tag. This entity is used when
the close angle bracket is part of the content of the XML file.

3. &amp; -- The ASCII ampersand symbol (&) is reserved in XML for indicating the
start of an XML entity. This entity is used when an ampersand occurs within an XML
element.
 4. &quot; -- The ASCII double quote character (") is used in XML element tags to
identify optional attribute values of the element. For example, a <emphasis> tag
might include options for emphasizing some text, such as bold, italic or underline.
This entity is used when a double quote character appears in the contents of an XML
element.

5. &apos; -- The ASCII single quote character ('), also known as an apostrophe, is used
in XML element tags to identify option attributes of the element. For example,
a <emphasis> tag might include options for emphasizing some text, such
as bold, italic or underline. This entity is used when a single quote or apostrophe
appears in the contents of an XML element.

XML entities take the form of &name; where the entity name begins with the ampersand symbol
and ends with a semicolon. Custom entities can be single characters or complex XML elements.
For example, boilerplate language for technical documentation or legal contracts can be reduced
to a single entity. However, when using entities, the XML author must ensure that inserting the
entity into an XML file will produce well-formed XML data.

Is XML a programming language?

XML is not a programming language. However, as a markup language, it is used to annotate data
using tags, which interpret that data. Programming languages consist of instructions to
implement algorithms, while markup languages are used to format data for processing by
programs running algorithms that interpret marked-up data.

Markup language tags are considered a type of computer code because they define different
elements of the markup language and because there are strict syntax rules for how to compose
those elements.

What is an XML file?

An XML file is a plaintext file with the .xml file extension. XML files contain Unicode text, and
they can be opened with any application capable of reading text files.
XML files can be edited either with a simple text editor or specialized XML editors. An XML
editor may include tools for validating the XML code, including the ability to do the following:

 parse XML code and display well-formed XML;

 flag orphaned text, which is text not enclosed within a tag; and

 identify improperly formed tags.

Different types of content can be incorporated into an XML file. For example, rich media content
can be incorporated into XML through tags that identify the files in which the rich media content
resides.

How to open and read XML files

Any text editor can be used to open and edit an XML file. While text editors may be sufficient
for casual XML file editing, specialized XML editing software is preferred for any extensive
writing or editing of XML files. XML editing programs ease editing XML files with the
following features:

 syntax highlighting for tracking complex XML tags;

 XML parser for checking the validity of XML code and displaying parsed data;

 expanding or collapsing XML tags and nodes;

 enhanced interface for editing multiple files at once;

 graphical UI enabling visual display of relationships between XML elements and

simplified display of complex XML elements, like tables; and

 productivity tools, like macros, custom elements, and search and replace functions.
USED WITH PERMISSION FROM MICROSOFT

Editing XML code with the open source XML Notepad application

Some leading XML editing programs are the following:

 Oxygen XML Editor

 XML Notepad

 Adobe FrameMaker

 MadCap Flare

 Quark Author

 Liquid XML Studio

XML files are structured much like any other type of programming code, with headers defining
the contents of the file and indentation for nested elements.

What are the differences between XML and HTML?

While XML and HTML share the same underlying SGML foundations, they are different and are
used in different ways.
The biggest difference between XML and HTML is that XML is used to store data as structured
information, while HTML is used to represent content. Because XML stores data and because it
enforces strict validation, XML content can be reliably processed by programs. This is why
XML is often used to create files that are used to generate HTML content.

Strict validation of XML code means that, if there are errors in the code, it will fail when it is
processed for output. Users can then correct the XML code so it can be successfully processed.
This is crucial for HTML content that is based on XML but also makes XML an important
format for software configuration files that must be well-formed to be successfully processed by
software.

While
both are based on Standard Generalized Markup Language, XML and HTML differ in important
ways.

What is the benefit of using XML for documentation?

XML is widely used for technical documentation because it can specify structural information.
This document structure can then be parsed by other programs for output.

For example, in HTML, the user can create different types of lists, including numbered lists, but
there is no way to explicitly tag content as being part of a step-by-step procedure. In XML, a
procedure tag can be defined to represent a list of items as being the steps of a procedure,
including identifying different elements for required steps, optional steps, and alternate steps.
Likewise, in HTML, a string can be tagged as one of several different heading levels to indicate
a headline or title, but in XML, a string can be explicitly tagged as a title, subtitle, headline, or
subheadline. This enables the user to different programs to process the XML content for different
types of output.

For example, if the content is to be output in printed book form, the book or chapter title can be
incorporated into a header or footer. If the content is to be output as HTML content, the book or
chapter title could be incorporated into a webpage as needed.

As the foundational format for storing data of all types, XML drives much more than technical
documentation. Learn about other formats that compete with XML for data representation,
especially JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and YAML Ain't Markup Language (YAML) data
formats.