i am building a sqlite database that needed to be accessed and modified from an android app, a website, and a microsoft windows software, in theory and as far as i am aware of, the database could be created and accessed easily yet i am not sure if the SGBD and the server in witch the database is stored in will take care of the the reliability and availability problems if there are multiple simultaneous users changing data since all database objects are shared.
i also read about object-oriented architecture and REST api, but it appears to me that those techniques are only used to build complex engineered systems that shares multiple and various hardware and functions.
so my question is : what is the best way to connect multiple application ( android application, website, and windows application ) to the same database ?
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Answer
The “best” way from a platform independence perspective is to wrap a REST API around the database. That way you do not have to take the risk of opening up your database server to access from the open internet and you have consistency in the way that the data is stored and retrieved from the database. You also avoid having to manage a plethora of database connectors within your variety of platforms and applications that use the data. This approach also ensures that if there are changes in the business logic surrounding database updates, you only have to make changes to the logic in the REST API, not in every single application that uses it.
You are mistaken in your assertion that REST API and object oriented architecture designs are only for large and complicated systems. That is not the case at all. The benefits that these architecture choices offer extend to small simple projects as well as big complicated ones. REST API is well-supported on virtually every software development platform out there and object oriented programming is the preferred choice of seasoned developers because it is testable, unlike procedural designs which are more difficult to mock and test.