SDL Web 8, SPA and Mobile App architecture

Question

Looking at the attached Web 8 architecture diagram, it shows the following different client applications:

• Web Applications
• Single Page Applications (SPA)
• Mobile Apps

Questions:

1. I'm assuming the "Content Interaction Libraries" associated with the Web Application represents DXA for example?

2. Does Web 8/DXA require CDA licenses on the consuming application side similar to previous versions of Tridion? Since it is moving to a service-based architecture, we're hoping the CDA licensing model would be changing.

3. What are the interaction library options for Web 8 integration from SPA and Mobile App clients? Are there none available yet, hence the exclusion in this diagram?

Answer 1

Ad 1) Not really, CIL is the term used for the "client" libraries for the Content Interaction Services (CIS). SDL Web 8 comes with .NET and Java CIL. They are intentionally very similar to the public CD APIs provided in earlier releases. DXA is a MVC web application framework which builds on top of these CIL.

Ad 2) No. Indeed, only the CIS requires licenses.

Ad 3) In this picture, the SPA and mobile app are client apps which talk directly to the CIS through HTTP/OData (using the OData V2 Content Service). SDL Web 8 does not come with genuine client libraries (Javascript or whatever), so you'll have to do such communication using whatever the client framework provides.