Backend as a Service (BaaS) ecosystem

Let's discuss around BaaS ecosystem. Why we need, when to use, what are the options, and how they are comparing.

🎉 Feel free to do some casual discussion and QA (question/answer)

Introduction

Why we need it and when to use it?

Frontend and backend are well differentiated.
Experimentation for new projects/products/features.
Limitation factors related to business as well.
- Team of developers, so need to maximize team effort. Want to outsource cloud infrastructure management to the most experienced.
- Timeline, so need to speed up backend development. Reduce time to market.
- Budget, so need to cut cost. Save money and decrease the cost of development.
Need a lot of backend features quickly.
- Database management
- Hosting and deployment
- User authentication and authorization
- Email verification
- Files/assets storage
- Push notifications
- Serverless function
- Geolocation
- Security settings
- Social account integration
- REST API or GraphQL API
- SDK (software development kit) for various platforms
  - JavaScript
  - Java
  - Ruby
  - Python
  - Golang
  - PHP
Trade-offs
- 3rd party code and responsibility
- Vendor lock-in
- Unexpected long term cost

What is exactly a BaaS?

Backend that we can use immediately without any prior development.
Can expose the REST API or GraphQL.
Can be cloud-hosted (available instantly) or self-hosted (usually open source or on-premise).
Comparable to Headless CMS (Content Management System).
Can be categorized as low-code and no-code.

Evaluating most popular BaaS options.