Adding an online data store

In the next chapter, we will start to improve the to-do app to support our revised workflow. Before we do this, we need a place to store our data online, which supports device syncing and user sharing. We'll use CouchDB for this.

CouchDB is a NoSQL database that makes certain things very easy: database synchronization, data access (via a built-in REST endpoint), and user management. There are several places to get a free CouchDB database online. We'll use IBM Cloudant to provide this service.

Creating a Cloudant account

IBM Cloudant is an online database host. It's free as long as your monthly usage is less than $50. One alternative is Iris Couch (www.iriscouch.com), which works in basically the same way. For now, let's use Cloudant:

1. Open www.cloudant.com in your browser.

2. Click on Sign Up.

3. Choose your credentials.

4. Click on I agree, sign me up.

5. Click on Add New Database.

6. Name your database lists.

7. Click on API URL to copy the link to your new database.

8. Paste the link in a...