Almost all mobile apps communicate with an API to retrieve and store information. In many cases, as a mobile app developer, you might just have to use an API that already exists. However, if you're building your own product or service, you may need to create your own backend and web API. There are several ways you can create an API, several places you can host it, and certainly many different languages you can develop it in. For the purposes of this book, we will create a backend service and web API in the cloud using Microsoft's Azure App Services. Azure App Services contains many products and features, one of which is called Mobile Apps (formally known as Azure Mobile Services).
Azure Mobile Apps provide a very quick and easy way to get a fully functional backend service up and running in a matter of minutes....