I am building an application that looks like this: Codeingiter App/MySQL DB <--> API (this is the "contract" between the two entities) <--> Web Frontend I want the web frontend to be able to interact with the MySQL DB by requesting JSON objects in a RESTful way. But I don't want the Web Frontend to expose the workings of the Codeigniter App (i.e. let the Web Frontend clients see the domain of the codeigniter app, including its controllers/functions). The Codeigniter App is for business clients, and needs to be "hidden" from the Web Frontend users. I want to use PHP or Javascript, and am considering node js's Express, Angular, and SLIM PHP. Any thoughts as to what technology would suit this purpose best? Thanks