Before you begin

This class assumes you have already setup an Azure account and have a basic knowledge of the Azure management portal. To get familiar with Azure and the Azure management portal before you begin, review the materials from AZR101 - Introduction to Azure before proceeding with this class.

Overview

This class focuses on the server model for building an Azure App Service mobile client back end. We will explore the techniques used to create the server-side back end and expose data from it using either Node.js or ASP.NET.

Lecture

AZR110 - Building an Azure Mobile App

Objectives

1. Create the mobile app service
2. Add a database to your back end

Exercises

Exercise materials are available from GitHub. The code can be cloned through a desktop Git client or downloaded directly as a ZIP file.

1. Create a survey app service in Azure
   Create a Node.js back end OR Create an ASP.NET back end
   In this lab exercise, you will create a new Azure mobile service either using the Azure portal (Node.js) or using Visual Studio with the Azure SDK (ASP.NET).
2. Add a database to your Survey service
   Exercise
   In this exercise, you will add a new SQL database to your resource group using the Azure management portal and then setup a connection string in your app service.
3. Add a new table into the Survey service
   Create a table in a Node.js back end OR Create a table in a ASP.NET back end
   Next, you will need to add a new Table into your service and database. If you used a Node.js back end, then this will definition will be done completely in the Azure management portal. If you used ASP.NET, then you will add some code into your server project and re-publish it.
4. Create and populate our survey questions in the Azure portal
   Create a populated table in a Node.js back end OR Create a populated table in a ASP.NET back end
   In this exercise, you will add another table to hold survey questions which is seeded with data. If you are using a Node.js back end, this will be done by importing some .csv files into the Azure portal. If you are using ASP.NET, you will create a new DTO object and TableController and then supply some code to seed the table when it is created.
5. Testing your final Survey service
   Homework
   In this final exercise, you will use Xamarin Workbooks to test our your service. This is intended to be done after class so you have time to explore what you have created from the client-side perspective!

Additional References