Firebase Cookbook E-Book

Houssem Yahiaoui

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 238

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Do you feel tired just thinking or even hearing about backend technologies, authentication or the tedious task of deployment? Firebase is here to change the way you develop and make your app a first-class citizen of the cloud.
This books takes a solution based approach by providing you recipes that would help you understand the features of Firebase and implement them in your existing web or mobile applications.

We start-off by creating our first Firebase application and integrating its services into different platforms and environments for mobile as well as web applications. Then we deep dive into Real-time Database and Firebase Storage that allows your users to access data across various devices with realtive ease. With each chapter you will gradually create the building blocks of your application from securing your data with Firebase Rules to authenticating your users with O-Auth.

Moving along we would explore modern application development techniques such as creating serverless applications with Firebase Cloud Functions or turning your traditional applications into progressive apps with Service workers.
Finally you will learn how to create cross-platform mobile apps, integrate Firebase in native platforms, and learn how to monetize your mobile applications using Admob for Android and iOS.

Leseprobe

Firebase Cookbook

Over 70 recipes to help you create real-time web and mobile applications with Firebase

Houssem Yahiaoui

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Firebase Cookbook

Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

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Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: November 2017

Production reference: 1281117

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

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B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78829-633-5

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Credits

Author

Houssem Yahiaoui

Copy Editor

Safis Editing

Reviewer

Thomas David Kehoe

Project Coordinator

Devanshi Doshi

Commissioning Editor

Kunal Chaudhari

Proofreader

Safis Editing

Acquisition Editor

Larissa Pinto

Indexer

Francy Puthiry

ContentDevelopmentEditor

Aditi Gour

Graphics

Jason Monteiro

Technical Editor

Sushmeeta Jena

Production Coordinator

Deepika Naik

About the Author

Houssem Yahiaoui, a backend engineer at Xapo from Algeria, has almost 4 years, experience in building everything from backend services to mobile apps using Hybrid, Not so Hybrid and Native Approaches. Houssem is also a Telerik Developer Expert title holder and community power believer. He's also a Google Developer Group Lead Organizer, Algeria Tech Community (Community Manager), and speaker at numerous national and international events from DevFests to DroidCon, sharing his experience of web technologies, and a love for serverless approaches and Firebase.

About the Reviewer

Thomas David Kehoe makes technology for speech clinics to treat stuttering and other speech disorders. He is interested in how auditory processing affects second language acquisition. He develops web apps using Firebase, Angular, and JavaScript.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

Firebase - Getting Started

Introduction 

Creating your first Firebase application

How to do it...

Adding Firebase to an existing frontend project

How to do it...

How it works...

Integrating Firebase into the backend

How to do it...

How it works...

Integrating Firebase in Android applications

Getting ready 

How to do it...

Integrating Firebase in iOS applications

Getting ready 

How to do it...

Firebase Real-Time Database

Introduction 

Saving and serving data in and from our Realtime Database

How to do it...

How it works...

Updating and deleting data from our Realtime Database

How to do it...

How it works...

Structuring data within our Realtime Database

How to do it...

Implementing offline capabilities support

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

File Management with Firebase Storage

Introduction

Creating file storage references

Getting ready

How to do it... 

How it works...

Implementing file upload

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing file serving and downloading

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing file deletion

How to do it...

Implementing file metadata updates

How to do it...

Firebase file storage error handling

How to do it...

Firebase Authentication

Introduction

Implementing email/password authentication

How to do it...

Implementing anonymous authentication

How to do it...

Implementing Facebook login

Getting ready 

How to do it...

Implementing Twitter login

Getting ready

How to do it...

Implementing Google Sign-in

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing user metadata retrieval

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing the linking of multiple authentication providers

How to do it...

How it works...

Securing Application Flow with Firebase Rules

Introduction

Configuring the Firebase Bolt language compiler

Configuring database data security rules

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Configuring database user data security rules

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Configuring storage files security rules

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Configuring user storage files security rules

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Progressive Applications Powered by Firebase

Introduction

Integrating Node-FCM in a NodeJS server

How to do it...

Implementing service workers

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing sending/receiving registration using Socket.IO

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing sending/receiving registration using post requests

How to do it...

How it works...

Receiving web push notification messages

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing custom notification messages

How to do it...

How it works...

Firebase Admin SDK

Introduction

Integrating the Firebase Admin SDK

Getting ready

How to do it...

Implementing user account management by fetching users

How to do it...

Implementing user account management by creating accounts

Getting ready

How to do it...

Implementing user account management by deleting accounts

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing notification sending

How to do it...

How it works...

Extend Firebase with Cloud Functions

Introduction 

Getting started with Cloud Functions 

Getting ready

How to do it...

Implementing data manipulation

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing data-change monitoring

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Welcoming users upon account creation

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing account email confirmation

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Sending re-engagement emails to inactive Firebase users

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

We’re Done, Let’s Deploy

Introduction

Deploying our application to Firebase

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Customizing the Firebase hosting environment

How to do it...

How it works...

Integrating Firebase with NativeScript

Introduction

 Starting a NativeScript project

How to do it...

Adding the Firebase plugin to our application

How to do it...

Pushing/retrieving data from the Firebase Realtime Database

Getting ready 

How to do it...

How it works...

Authenticating using anonymous or password authentication

Getting ready 

How to do it...

How it works...

Authenticating using Google Sign-In

Getting ready 

How to do it...

How it works...

Adding dynamic behavior using Firebase Remote Config

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Integrating Firebase with Android/iOS Natively

Introduction

Implementing the pushing and retrieving of data from Firebase Realtime Database

How to do it...

Implementing anonymous authentication

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing password authentication on iOS

How to do it...

How it works ...

Implementing password authentication on Android

Getting ready 

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing Google Sign-in authentication

Getting ready...

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing Facebook login authentication

Getting ready...

Facebook authentication in Android

Getting ready...

How to do it...

How it works

Facebook authentication in iOS

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Generating a crash report using Firebase Crash Report

How to do it...

Adding dynamic behavior using Firebase Remote Config in Android

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Adding dynamic behavior using Firebase Remote Config in iOS

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Hack Application's Growth

Introduction

Implementing sending/receiving app invite in Android/iOS

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Implementing topic subscription in Android/ iOS

How to do it...

How it works...

Adding Analytics and Maximizing Earnings

Introduction

Integrating Firebase analytics into Android/iOS applications

How to do it...

Implementing event logging on Android/iOS

How to do it...

Implementing user properties for data and audience filtering

How to do it...

Integrating Firebase AdMob with Android/iOS applications

How to do it...

Implementing Firebase AdMob banner ads on Android/iOS

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works... 

Implementing Firebase AdMob native ads express on Android/iOS

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works... 

Implementing AdMob ads targeting

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works... 

Firebase Cloud FireStore

Preface

Introduction

Whether we like it or not, the world is moving toward different development schemes in ways that technically differ from one team to another or even from one developer to another. As a backend developer, I understand the hustle, from having a really dependable database to implementing an effective authentication system that can be relied on to keep things secure, without forgetting about the authorization part, where you simply manage the part of who has access to what.

Such a hustle is not even the beginning; in a mobile-first world, improving your users' mobile application functionalities is a critical task because you will always need to improve your application security, maintain a notification system that scales, and have a great user interface and experience, but even with all this, you will the analytics, revenue generation part which is still essential, because you simply want to listen to your users' needs and breaking point within your application in easy seamless way without too much pain.

Firebase provides all of that and much more in a set of interconnected products that simply lets your application have everything that Firebase has to offer. This book will go through each topic over the 13 chapters divided into problem/solution recipes. All the points covered here come from real-world scenarios that each and every new or old application might have faced or will face within its development workflow.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Firebase - Getting Started, begins with the process of integrating Firebase and its services into different platforms and environments, from frontend and backend projects to Android/iOS projects.

Chapter 2, Firebase Real-Time Database, introduces one of the most used features of Firebase—Firebase Real Time. It covers how to implement the daily input entering and retrieval and update of your data; it also covers how we can structure our data better and finishes by enabling all these features and enabling them offline.

Chapter 3,File Management with Firebase Storage, explains how we can upload, download, and manage files within our Firebase Storage.

Chapter 4,Firebase Authentication, presents the different ways in which you can authenticate your users using Firebase, from traditional authentication to an OAuth-based login process that is different from Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

Chapter 5,Securing Application Flow with Firebase Rules, explains how to secure Firebase Database and Firebase Storage using the powerful Firebase authorization rules.

Chapter 6,Progressive Applications Powered by Firebase, shows how to turn a boring application with old features into a progressive one using service workers and Firebase.

Chapter 7,Firebase Admin SDK, describes how we can create a basic dashboard and interact with other Firebase functionalities from the diverse set with more authorization and a more powerful API to manage users and notifications.

Chapter 8,Extend Firebase with Cloud Functions, covers how we can use Firebase Cloud Functions and integrate it and interact with different Firebase products to extend its functionalities and go literally serverless ending up with deployment interactivity within the Firebase console.

Chapter 9,We're Done, Let's Deploy, is about deploying your code to the Firebase Static hosting and making some config-based customizations to the user experience.

Chapter 10, Integrating Firebase withNativeScript, shows the proper way to use Firebase within the NativeScript a lot of platforms applications.

Chapter 11, Integrating Firebase with Android/iOS Natively, is all about implementing Firebase features from Interacting with the Realtime Database to authentication in native context for Android and iOS applications.

Chapter 12, Hack Application's Growth, dives into the little functionalities that simply generate more leads and improve the application's user experience, covering app invites and topic-based notifications.

Chapter 13, Adding Analytics and Maximizing Earnings, shows how you can integrate analytics and incorporate AdMob so that you can generate revenue from different ad types.

Appendix, Firebase Cloud FireStore, talks about the power points of Firebase Cloud Firestore and its differences from earlier model.

What you need for this book

The content requirements are fairly easy for the first 10 chapters; no matter what your operating system or your code editor is, you're always covered.

However, in Chapter 11, Integrating Firebase with Android/iOS Natively, we'll start developing for mobile, so while you will be perfectly fine with any operating system (macOs, Linux, or Windows) when developing for Android, we will definitely need a macOS-based computer in order to follow along with iOS-based recipes.

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who wants to use Firebase for their personal/professional projects. As this book covers multiple platforms and different development environments, there's everything for everyone.

The need for this book will simply come from the willingness to know the interesting parts that makes Firebase an interconnected set of tools that simply makes developers' lives much easier by demystifying the hustle that developers usually come across while creating projects from scratch or just implementing new features. So technically, like I mentioned, there's everything for everyone.

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Firebase - Getting Started

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

Creating your first Firebase app

Adding Firebase to an existing frontend project

Integrating Firebase in the backend

Integrating Firebase in Android applications

Integrating Firebase in iOS applications

Introduction 

With the changing web and mobile scene, finding a suitable solution and technology that suits these climbing, fast needs is a must. From web development to mobile, the way we treat APIs, data, and security, and how we make users feel as engaged as we possibly can, is an urgent matter.

Going from a traditional setup to the cloud leads to many new patterns and architectures. Backend-as-a-service (BaaS), saves us from tons of useless setup and configuration and makes us think of nothing but our application logic.

Here we are introducing Firebase, a feature-heavy BaaS that will make creating your next awesome project a breeze. It will eliminate many tedious tasks and even manpower and will create your server-side code and give you a more secure, well-built platform that will completely change your thoughts about simplicity and scalability.

So, hold on tight and let's start our journey together by creating our first ever Firebase application.

Creating your first Firebase application

The process of creating a Firebase application is straightforward and mainly visual. This recipe will demonstrate the process of creating a Firebase application from scratch.

How to do it...

As mentioned previously, we will use nothing but our clicking superpower and our favorite browser. First, head directly to the Firebase official website:

https://firebase.google.com/

. A screenshot of the website page is as follows (

Figure 1

):

Figure 1: Firebase main screen

Now, go to the top navigation bar and click on the

SIGN IN

button. This will lead to another page where you will be introduced to the Google authentication page showcased in the following figure, where you can select the most suitable account for your development work (

Figure 2

):

Figure 2: Firebase - Google authentication

Now, after you select the most suitable Google account, you will find yourself redirected to this link:

https://console.firebase.google.com/

. You will find all of your Firebase projects here, and you can introduce new projects as well (

Figure 3

):

Figure 3: Firebase console

Now, we do have two options: whether to import a Google project or simply start a fresh one. Let us learn how to start a new project.

After clicking on the

Add project

plus button, you will be introduced to a model where you can add the

Project name

and

Country/region

. Keep in mind that the

Project name

and

Country

are variables, so you can change their values to the values that suit you best. You can see the page for creating the project in the following screenshot (

Figure 4

):

Figure 4: Firebase project creation

After finishing the previous step, you will be redirected to your Firebase dashboard (

Figure 5

):

Figure 5: Firebase project dashboard

Congratulations! You've successfully created your first Firebase project. You have seen that the steps are really simple and are applicable to any Firebase project that you may create now or in the future.

Adding Firebase to an existing frontend project

Since Firebase is indeed a backend platform which typically acts as a service, it's not strange to see today's developer ditch the idea of creating a backend in general. They just focus on their frontend, which is actually the main idea behind serverless architecture nowadays.

How it works...

In the previous steps, we integrated the Firebase JavaScript client over our web page, and we also created the basic backbone configuration. Following the documentation guidelines, we copied/pasted the configuration script that would hold all the required tokens and API keys that Firebase was going to need in order to support our functionalities.

Integrating Firebase into the backend

Firebase is already a complete solution that can simply replace our backend, but sometimes, due to some requirements, you will find yourself integrating Firebase into the already present backend.

In this integration process, we will integrate Firebase services in a NodeJS backend application.

How it works...

Similar to the frontend integration, in our backend we are doing the following:

Using a node package manager or npm to install the Firebase

commonJS

library, where we will find all the necessary APIs.

We're requiring/importing Firebase to be part our application, passing it to the configuration object that will hold all our API keys, links, and more.

Lastly, we're initializing our application with the configuration object we just created.