Discover the secrets of accessing two distinct objects returned by a single REST URL with Backbone

Question

Discover the secrets of accessing two distinct objects returned by a single REST URL with Backbone

I am working with a REST URL that looks like this:

/users/<user_id>/entities

This URL returns data containing 2 objects as follows:

{
    "players":
    {
       "test_player2":
       {
           "_id": "test_player2",
           "user": "f07590567f3d3570b4f35b4fd79f18b3"
       },
       "test_playerX":
       {
           "_id": "test_player2",
           "user": "f07590567f3d3570b4f35b4fd79f18b3"
       }
    },
    "games":
    {
      "game1" :{},
      "game2" :{},
    }
}

I am figuring out how to structure my Backbone Objects in order to utilize this data effectively.

My goal is to create two separate Backbone objects: Player and Game, both of which should be populated using the same URL mentioned above.

One question that arises is whether it is considered proper practice to design a REST URL in this manner?

javascript ajax backbone.js

Answer 1

Answer №1

Is it considered best practice to structure REST URLs in this way?

No, it is not the correct practice. In REST architecture, each URL should represent a single resource. Therefore, instead of using /users/<user_id>/entities, you should use /users/<user_id>/players to return a list of players and /users/<user_id>/games to return a list of games.

There may be instances where you have limited control over the API response, particularly with nested objects:

{
    "players":
    {
        "id": 1,
        "games":
        {
           "id": 1745,
           "title": "Team Fortress 2"
        }
    }
}

In such cases, you can utilize the model's parse function like this:

parse: function(response)
{
    if(_.isArray(response.games))
    {
        this.games = new GamesCollection(response.games,{parse: true});
    }
}

By customizing the parse function and using {parse:true}, you can extend your models as needed. While it's not the preferred method (as collections should handle their own models), it can be useful for working with complex API responses beyond your control.

Answer 2

Is it considered best practice to structure REST URLs in this way?

No, it is not the correct practice. In REST architecture, each URL should represent a single resource. Therefore, instead of using /users/<user_id>/entities, you should use /users/<user_id>/players to return a list of players and /users/<user_id>/games to return a list of games.

There may be instances where you have limited control over the API response, particularly with nested objects:

{
    "players":
    {
        "id": 1,
        "games":
        {
           "id": 1745,
           "title": "Team Fortress 2"
        }
    }
}

In such cases, you can utilize the model's parse function like this:

parse: function(response)
{
    if(_.isArray(response.games))
    {
        this.games = new GamesCollection(response.games,{parse: true});
    }
}

By customizing the parse function and using {parse:true}, you can extend your models as needed. While it's not the preferred method (as collections should handle their own models), it can be useful for working with complex API responses beyond your control.

Discover the secrets of accessing two distinct objects returned by a single REST URL with Backbone

Answer №1

Similar questions

Problems with accessing Ajax login

Having trouble parsing the BODY of a NodeJs JSON post request?

Issues with routing on Zeit Now platform are causing a 404 NOT FOUND error when attempting to reload pages that are not the

What is the reason behind my button appearing beneath my links in React?

Angucomplete Alternative solves the challenge of accessing remote URLs

Component updates are not working in VueJS

Adding or removing a class using Jquery based on the condition of form validation

Tips for initializing a jstree with no content?

Display a component just once in React or React Native by utilizing local storage

Why does the view get hit when submitting the form but not with the (Django) AJAX call?

Can iPhone/iOS 6 users using Mobile Safari detect if the browser is in full-screen mode? How about compatibility with Android?

Managing both clicking and hovering events on a single element, ensuring that the popup modal remains open as long as it is being hovered over

Why am I unable to insert data into the 'sessions' database using connect-mongo?

Cease the continuous scrolling of the display element now

Utilize AJAX to connect to a remote domain from an extension

What could be causing the issue where only one of my videos plays when hovered over using UseRef?

Creating an installation package for an Electron application on Windows

Tips for Creating an Animated Progress Bar in a Slider

Is it possible to prevent the late method from running during the execution of Promise.race()?

What is the best way to send form data to MongoDB using React?