Astoria: A Programming Model for Data on the Web

Modern Web applications built using technologies such as AJAX, Adobe flash and Microsoft Silverlight interact with data in a different way compared to previous-generation applications. Data is now a first-class construct that is exchanged over the web independently from presentation information. Astoria is both a set of patterns and an actual implementation of a programming interface for data in the Web. Astoria exposes data in a database over an HTTP interface and follows the REST architectural style for exploring and manipulating data. We demonstrate the URI patterns used by Astoria and their associated semantics, and the various data formats supported by the system. We explore specific requirements for the formats such as hyper-linking and usability for both retrieval and updates. We also demonstrate step by step how developers use Astoria to create custom data services on top of existing databases.