Let’s Compare: JAX-RS vs Spring for REST Endpoints
Need to decouple your web service and client? You’re probably using REST endpoints, and if you’re a Java shop you’ve probably tried out JAX-RS, Spring REST, or both. But is one better than the other? In this post I’ll go over the the differences between the two using basically the same code for an apples to apples comparison. In future posts I’ll show you how easy it is to secure these REST endpoints using Apache...
Secure a Spring Microservices Architecture with Spring Security, JWTs, Juiser, and Okta
You’ve built a microservices architecture with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud. You’re happy with the results, and you like how it adds resiliency to your application. You’re also pleased with how it scales and how different teams can deploy microservices independently. But what about security? Are you using Spring Security to lock everything down? Are your microservices locked down too, or are they just behind the firewall? This tutorial shows you how you can use...
What’s in a Token? – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 3 of 3
In the previous two installments of this OpenID Connect (OIDC) series, we dug deep into the OIDC flow types and saw OIDC in action using a playground found at: https://okta-oidc-fun.herokuapp.com/. In this third and final installment, we’ll look at what’s encoded into the various types of tokens and how to control what gets put in them. JWTs, have the benefit of being able to carry information in them. With this information available to your app...
OIDC in Action – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 2 of 3
In the first installment of this OpenID Connect (OIDC) series, we looked at some OIDC basics, its history, and the various flow types, scopes, and tokens involved. In this post, we’ll dive into the mechanics of OIDC and see the various flows in action. The token(s) you get back from an OIDC flow and the contents of the /userinfo endpoint are a function of the flow type and scopes requested. You can see this live...
Identity, Claims, & Tokens – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 1 of 3
In the beginning, there were proprietary approaches to working with external identity providers for authentication and authorization. Then came SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) – an open standard using XML as its message exchange type. Then, there was OAuth and OAuth 2.0 – also open as well as being a modern, RESTful approach to authorization using JSON as its medium. And now, the holy grail of “secure delegated access” OpenID Connect (henceforth OIDC), which runs...
The Ultimate Guide to Progressive Web Applications
Progressive Web Apps, aka PWAs, are the best way for developers to make their webapps load faster and more performant. In a nutshell, PWAs are websites that use recent web standards to allow for installation on a user’s computer or device, and deliver an app-like experience to those users. Twitter recently launched mobile.twitter.com as a PWA built with React and Node.js. They’ve had a good experience with PWAs, showing that the technology is finally ready...
Protecting a Spring Boot App with Apache Shiro
My favorite thing about Apache Shiro is how easy it makes handling authorization. You can use a role-based access control (RBAC) model of assigning roles to users and then permissions to roles. This makes dealing with the inevitable requirements change simple. Your code does not change, just the permissions associated with the roles. In this post I want to demonstrate just how simple it is, using a Spring Boot application and walking through how I’d...
OpenID Connect for User Authentication in ASP.NET Core
In the age of the “personalized web experience”, authentication and user management is a given, and it’s easier than ever to tap into third-party authentication providers like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. And it’s not just the wild, wild web that needs it. Businesses need ways to secure their APIs, and identify users logged into their apps. OpenID Connect is a protocol for authenticating users. It is a specification by the OpenID Foundation describing the best...
7 Essential .NET Developer Tools for 2017
Every good dev knows that time spent setting up the perfect environment and searching out the latest tools is time well spent. Little things make a huge difference — upgrade your IDE plugins, automate a task or two, or look for new tools and libraries that can increase your efficiency. We’ve taken a crack at an updated list of our favorite .NET developer tools, that can simplify your life and amplify your work. 1. JSON.NET...
What the Heck is OAuth?
There’s a lot of confusion around what OAuth actually is. Some people think OAuth is a login flow (like when you sign into an application with Google Login), and some people think of OAuth as a “security thing”, and don’t really know much more than that. I’m going to show you what OAuth is, explain how it works, and hopefully leave you with a sense of how and where OAuth can benefit your application. What...