When and How to Expose Services

As Rails applications evolve and grow, they tend to accumulate dependencies. Often, these dependencies are shared between multiple systems (whether related or disparate), which leads the developer to question how these dependencies should best be shared. Maybe a web service is best. Maybe a shared database, with models exposed via plugins, is simpler. Perhaps another approach entirely is more appropriate.

This presentation will show attendees different ways to share these dependencies by exposing them as services, and will discuss guidelines and tips for when the different approaches ought to be used. These techniques are all taken from the presenters’ own experiences with working on 37signals’ suite of applications, and helping them interoperate, sharing data and logic.