Using Node as REST server alongside PHP [closed]

Question

I've got a functional site running right now in PHP on apache; PHP and apache are serving the needs of serving the site content quite nicely. I'm looking to convert my existing PHP API server code to a RESTful interface; most of the design issues are worked out on that front. PHP doesn't seem like a good fit for a RESTful interface, though; enter Node.js.

I'd like to run my REST API from a node.js server, while still serving my site content from PHP. Is this a reasonable approach, and are there any potential troubles waiting in the wings? I'm planning on using express to simplify the process of REST API development.

Answer 1

PHP with Apache is enough to serve a proper RESTful interface. Being able to divide all your operations into proper resources and verbs is what REST needs. As REST is a way of designing an interface and now about the actual implementation, there are multiple ways of implementing it in PHP/Apache itself. I have used the Zend Framework for big APIs. For something super simple, a .htaccess with a PHP file should be good. :)

That said, I believe Node.js would give your API a nice performance advantage just after installing it. The actual numbers would depend upon how your backend works.

IMO, if you already have a lot of code in PHP and are not facing any performance issues, you can stick to the PHP+Apache combo than try out node.js.

Answer 2

You can try Zend framework. It will simplify your RESTful API development.