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PHP

TJ Rogers
TJ Rogers
8,758 Points
Posted by TJ Rogers
TJ Rogers
8,758 Points

Learning PHP for iOS Backend Development?

So ever since Parse/Facebook kicked us all in the pants, I've grown wary of signing up with any other backend service for fear that they too will ultimately pull the rug out from under us. I'm more inclined now to build my own backend for my iOS apps. That was Step 1 - decide to build my own backend.

Step 2: Figure out how to do that...

Since there is no course in Team Treehouse that teaches us how to build a backend specifically for mobile apps, I'm trying to piece together something of my own from the courses that are offered. From what I can tell, the PHP track is the way to go. Does that sound right?

Ultimately I will need a database that can store upwards of 5 Gigs of data (Parse spoiled us by not setting an upper limit for storage), and can perform basic database query tasks. Then of course, I'll need to learn how to get this mysterious backend in the sky to talk to my app.

So can anyone tell me, am I going in the right direction here with PHP to develop backend for iOS? Or would I be better served looking into something else?

1 Answer

jason chan
jason chan
31,009 Points
jason chan
jason chan
31,009 Points

I would recommend you learn laravel or rails, both of them could be used as an API. So can the MEAN stack. Python with flask and django can also make rest api. So can asp.net. So many choices.

There is always firebase by google.

TJ Rogers
TJ Rogers
8,758 Points
TJ Rogers
TJ Rogers
8,758 Points

Problem with Firebase - for me at least - is the pricing. I need a whole lot more than the 1GB of storage they offer before charging $50 per month, which I'm not willing to spend.

Regarding laravel or rails, etc, just to clarify is that in addition to learning PHP? In other words, are you suggesting to learn PHP to develop the backend and then any number of these other languages to develop the API to connect the backend to my app? Or are you suggesting these as alternatives to PHP?

Obviously, I'm completely new to this, as my inquiries reveal :)