summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/docs/dev-merchant.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/dev-merchant.rst')
-rw-r--r--docs/dev-merchant.rst38
1 files changed, 38 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/dev-merchant.rst b/docs/dev-merchant.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e4cd4cbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/dev-merchant.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+..
+ This file is part of GNU TALER.
+ Copyright (C) 2014, 2015, 2016 INRIA
+ TALER is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+ terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+ Foundation; either version 2.1, or (at your option) any later version.
+ TALER is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+ WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
+ A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with
+ TALER; see the file COPYING. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
+
+ @author Marcello Stanisci
+
+========
+Merchant
+========
+
+.. _merchant-arch:
+
+------
+Design
+------
+
+In order for a merchant to be Taler-compatible, they need to run two distinct Web
+services: a *frontend* and a *backend*. The former is typically the Web site where
+the merchant exposes their goods, whereas the latter is a C program in charge of
+making all the Taler-related cryptography.
+
+In details, the frontend gathers all the information from customers about sales,
+and forwards it to the backend via its RESTful API. Typically, the backend will either
+cryptographically process this data or just forward it to the exchange.
+
+That saves the frontend developers from dealing with cryptography in scripting
+languages and from commmunicating at all with any exchange.
+
+Additionally, the backend RESTful API is such that a frontend might be run completely
+database-less.