Posts Tagged ‘AsynchronousProcessing’
[PHPForumParis2022] BFF: Our Best Friend Forever for Frontend Applications? – Valentin Claras
Valentin Claras, a seasoned team leader at Bedrock, delivered a compelling session at PHP Forum Paris 2022, exploring the Backend for Frontend (BFF) pattern as a solution for managing complex frontend applications. With over a decade of development experience, Valentin shared insights from his work at Bedrock, formerly MC6, illustrating how BFF streamlines frontend-backend interactions. His presentation, dense with practical examples, highlighted the pattern’s potential to enhance performance and maintainability in PHP-driven projects.
Understanding the BFF Pattern
Valentin introduced the BFF pattern as a specialized backend layer tailored to specific frontend needs, acting as a “glue” between diverse APIs and client applications. Drawing from Bedrock’s streaming platform, he explained how BFF aggregates data from multiple backend services, simplifying frontend development. By reducing the complexity of direct API calls, BFF enables faster iteration and better user experiences, particularly for applications with varied frontend requirements like web and mobile interfaces.
Optimizing Performance with Asynchronous Processing
Addressing performance concerns, Valentin detailed Bedrock’s use of the Tornado engine to handle asynchronous API calls within the BFF layer. He explained how parallelizing 10 to 20 API requests ensures reasonable response times, even under heavy loads. Valentin referenced prior talks by colleague Benoit Viguier, emphasizing the importance of non-sequential processing to maintain efficiency. This approach, he argued, mitigates the risk of performance bottlenecks, making BFF a viable solution for high-traffic applications.
Maintaining Clear Boundaries
Valentin emphasized the importance of keeping BFF’s responsibilities minimal to avoid it becoming a monolithic service. At Bedrock, the BFF focuses solely on data aggregation and transformation, leaving business logic to dedicated services. This clear separation ensures maintainability and scalability, preventing the BFF from absorbing unrelated responsibilities. Valentin’s insights, grounded in real-world challenges, offered a blueprint for developers aiming to implement BFF effectively in their PHP projects.
Fostering Collaborative Development
Concluding, Valentin highlighted BFF’s role in fostering collaboration between frontend and backend teams. By providing a unified interface, BFF reduces miscommunication and aligns development efforts. He encouraged developers to adopt BFF incrementally, leveraging its flexibility to enhance project workflows. Valentin’s practical approach inspired attendees to explore BFF as a tool for building robust, frontend-friendly PHP applications, drawing from Bedrock’s successful implementation.