Accessing Cassandra with REST APIs

If you are moving into the cloud-native world, you need a microservices-based architecture that allows you to scale pieces of your architecture independently. APIs like REST make this possible.

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Introduction

An important aspect of microservices design is to make them stateless. This allows services to scale readily. However, apps need state! Microservices store their state in persistent storage services - services built on scalable databases like Cassandra.

Next concept: Why REST for Cassandra?

Why REST for Cassandra?

REST is currently the dominant API style. Cassandra lets you scale your storage needs. The marriage of a RESTful interface to Cassandra means you get all the benefits of scale with an interface you already know how to use. And, because you already know how to use REST APIs (and if you don’t, here’s a link you can quickly integrate these benefits into your applications.

Next concept: How to Get REST with Cassandra

How to Get REST With Cassandra

You have a couple of choices on how to get REST with Cassandra. Of course you can build your own RESTful service on top of your Cassandra cluster - here’s an example. Or, if you don’t have a Cassandra cluster and want one, you can create an Astra database for free online, which also gives you a REST API. You can try out Astra Online (DataStax Cassandra as a Service) and set up a database for free at astra.datastax.com.

Here’s an example of REST access using JavaScript:

Bash

// REST
// @param Array primary_key
// @param Array return_fields
async rest_read( primary_key, return_fields = [] ){
  if( return_fields.length ) console.log('REST API does not currently support specifying return fields')
  let result = await get()( `${restURL}/v1/keyspaces/${keyspace}/tables/${this.tablename}/rows/${primary_key.join(';')}` )
  if( result && result.rows && result.rows.length ){
    return result.rows
  } else {
    return []
  }
}

Skill Building

Try The Astra REST API Service for yourself - it allows you to scale your databases horizontally quickly, and easily. Give it a try!

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