Terminology
dcupl​
From the English word "decouple". Our initial goal was to get rid of unwanted dependencies between development teams - To decouple them and make them more productive and reduce tension. Since then, the product evolved far beyond this simple task and grew into what we today know as the dcupl Rapid Development Platform.
Rapid Development Platform​
A "Rapid Development Platform" is a software framework designed to enable fast and efficient application development by providing pre-built components, tools, and templates that streamline the coding, testing, and deployment processes.
dcupl Console​
The dcupl Console is the administration cockpit, the central tool for developers and business users to check the data quality and test the behavior of various configurations in advance, before the actual implementation of the application begins. It is a web application also built upon dcupl Technology (CLI, SDK, Infrastructure).
Local Dev Workspace​
As a developer, you always need to have control of your data and application logic. You can therefore at any time clone the data and configuration of your dcupl Console Project to a folder on your local machine using our CLI. From there, you can integrate it into your own Git or alternative version control.
CLI & SDK​
The dcupl CLI (Command Line Interface) is used by developers to set up a dcupl project for local testing and/or integrating it into your own Git project. The SDK is the essential part of your Frontend Application. It loads all the data needed for your application in a controlled manner and allows you to filter, aggregate, and interact with your data.
Runner​
Our dcupl REST APIs and Workflows are deployed to "Runners" (https://run.dcupl.com). A Runner is a special server that manages the setup and execution of those processes. There are "Public Runners" hosted in the dcupl cloud with limited resources and "Dedicated Runners" also hosted via the dcupl cloud but optimized for your individual needs. Enterprise customers may also deploy Runners in their own infrastructure.
dcupl REST API​
In addition to running dcupl on the client (browser), there are also certain scenarios where you may want to run dcupl on a server and interact with your data via a RESTful API. That's where the dcupl REST API comes into play. The console allows you to easily configure instance templates that you can then deploy to one of our public or dedicated servers.
Instance Template​
An Instance Template holds the basic configuration for your dcupl REST API Instance, like the instance name, apiKey, and how the dcupl SDK should be initialized (Application, Environments, ...).
dcupl REST API Instance​
The actual application (API Resource) that contains your data on one of our shared or dedicated servers. You can interact with this instance via HTTP GET calls. The instances may be secured via an API Key and are optimized for performance via smart caching mechanisms.
Workflows​
Workflows can perform a variety of tasks, such as fetching data securely from a protected origin, transforming/fixing faulty data, adding cachability to legacy APIs, and much more. A Workflow has three essential parts:
Workflow Trigger​
The trigger defines how the Workflow is executed: a click on a button in the Console, an HTTP call from your Frontend Application, or "passively" via a CRON job or as a result of an event inside the Console.
Workflow Steps​
Workflows perform different tasks split up into "Steps". For example, 1) fetching data from a spreadsheet, 2) transforming that data, and 3) pushing the transformed data to a Git repository are three different steps in a Workflow. There are predefined steps you can simply configure, and you always have the possibility to integrate your own custom logic.
Workflow Response​
Depending on your use case, you may want to return specific data, a status, or notify a third-party service (e.g., Slack) that your Workflow succeeded.