Lecture Sheets / file revision

 Directory Services in Mobile Applications

 Type: Lecture/presentation

 Category: Systems/business

 Topic: Networking/Internals/Implementation choices

 Audience: Android application developers

 Duration: 30 minute presentation

 Author and Speaker

 ------------------

 Michael Schloh von Bennewitz

 Software Engineer, Europalab Networks

 web: http://michael.schloh.com/

 email: michael@schloh.com

 isdn: +49(89)44239885

 voip: sips:michael@schloh.com

 xmpp: MSvB

 Biography

 ---------

 Michael Schloh von Bennewitz is a computer scientist specializing in

 network software, mobile computing, and client server design. He speaks

 at technical events every year. In the past, he has given lectures on

 object oriented design, technical writing, network protocols, mobile

 OSs, MeeGo development, LDAP integration strategies, and the Qt library

 build process. His speaking style is humorous, using gestures and good

 eye contact. He walks about the room and writes presentations in SVG or

 HTML5.

 Abstract

 --------

 Given that LDAP development efforts have been few and weak, a number of

 directory relevant use cases lead to the question 'Why do so few mobile

 operating systems integrate directory client logic?'

 This lecture begins by explaining concepts and presenting history and

 background of directory services relating to a typical Android business

 user.

 Consideration of business and general use cases prove the value of LDAP

 in mobile applications integrated into the Android OS or as stand alone

 apps. A comparison is drawn to what use cases SQL covers.

 Advancing into the topic of what Android could provide as a platform,

 business development scenarios are discussed and what advantages

 integrating directory services bring.

 A technical view is given of the Android platform architecture. Third

 party implementations of applications and development SDKs are

 considered.

 A demonstration of developing an Android application using a well known

 LDAP Java SDK is concluded with a review of a selected business use

 case and consideration of how one would hypothetically procede.

 The audience consists of developers familiar with client server design

 and maybe SQL, LDAP, or other directory and database technology.

 Attendants expect clearly defined directory use cases, abstract

 concepts, concrete definitions, and a well explained hello world

 LDAP development example. The Android community stands to benefit

 from a collective effort at integrating LDAP wherever a strong case

 for directory service exists.

 The following text is a lecture outline.

 Main chapters (15 minutes)

 --------------------------

   Concepts

     Directory

     Access

     Protocol

     LDAP

     Offspring

       Active directory

     Comparisons

       SQL

       Client storage

   Business use cases

     Legacy directories

     Network configuration

     Security or license sensitive

   General use cases

     Authentication

     Contacts integration

     Noncontacts customized

     Certificate storage

     SQL competition

   Platform provision

     Synchronization

     Read-optimized lookups

     Little network penalty

     Standardized protocol

     Network bound

   Platform architecture

     What Android API provides

     What Android market offers

     What 3rd party APIs offer

     Compatibility concerns

   Implementations

     Server-side relevance

     Client SDKs

       Apache [3]

       OpenDS [4]

       UnboundID [5]

       Novell [7]

       Mozilla [8]

       Netscape (renamed Mozilla)

       Oracle JNDI [8] (not available)

       JavaScript (not much)

 Demonstration (10 minutes)

 --------------------------

   Download and installation of LDAP client SDK

   Development of Hello LDAP five line application

   Build, package, install, and test app

   Review of selected business use case

 Questions (5 minutes)

 ---------------------

   Anticipated questions

     Why not just use a (Static|SQL|Lync|other) directory in business?

     What are the disadvantages of SQL or ODBC for similar applications?

     How relevant are directory services other than just for contacts?

     Why would a business not use whatever apps are already in the market?

     Why not depend on a social network for directory services?

 Relevant jokes about...

 -----------------------

   Android and Linux

   Directories and legacy apps

 Glossary

 --------

   Directory

   Access

   Protocol

   Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

   Active Directory (AD)

   Application Programming Interface (API)

   Software Development Kit (SDK)

   Structured Query Language (SQL)

   Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)

   American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

   International Organization for Standards (ISO)

   Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

   Request for Comments (RFC)

 Errata

 ------

   Errata here.

 Lecture materials

 -----------------

 This lecture is developed on a public source code revision management

 system [7]. It is (or will be) published on a public file server [8].

 Technical requirements

 ----------------------

 A WLAN connection (for remote slide advancement,) internet connectivity

 (for demonstration purposes,) and a whiteboard (to sketch diagrams) are

 needed for this presentation.

 Links and notes

 ---------------

   [1] http://directory.apache.org/

   [2] http://www.opends.org/

   [3] http://www.unboundid.com/products/ldap-sdk/

   [4] http://www.novell.com/developer/ndk/ldap_classes_for_java.html

   [5] https://wiki.mozilla.org/Directory

   [6] http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/jndi/

   [7] http://scm.europalab.com/lectures/

   [8] ftp://ftp.europalab.com/pub/doc/lect/