Know everything about API development

What are the benefits of an API?

Time-saving- The development process is simplified; developers can use existing services, which saves them from redeveloping them to integrate them into your application.

Security- Thanks to the security and control of data exchanges, it is possible to have access to the number of connections to the API, to the people who have connected, and by what means.

Interoperability- APIs facilitate the transfer and exchange of data. These can be cross-referenced, exploited, and fed permanently in a simplified and homogeneous way on different software.

Standardization- Your processes are simplified, and APIs allow separate systems using different technologies to work together.

Keys to successfully develop an API.

API Development guide requires taking into account a number of parameters. Here are three key steps to follow to facilitate the process.

Have the right semantics- The most important thing is to have the right semantics. If this may seem vague at first glance, it is, above all, a question of identifying the correct naming, the correct parameters, the structure of the data thus passed, the use of HTTP headers, and the conventions that surround all this. However, the basic principles of REST interfaces are often subject to interpretation by designers. And in fact, the quality of these interpretations ends up being very subjective. This is especially true for the naming of endpoints and for the use of parameters and data structures.

The name of these endpoints represents the most visible part of an API and conveys more design information than any other function. Whether this endpoint is called per resource, process, or medium, the API will be much better understood if the convention is applied consistently. In a large company, the only way to achieve this level of consistency is to put conventions in place and have them applied by all development teams. This certainly requires a great effort in terms of management, almost as much as that made in development.

Then come the problems related to the naming of parameters and data structures. Interfaces all have different data requirements. Here again, conventions are useful. If the naming is “SomeAPIDoThis” and “SomeOtherDoThis,” the APIs are less understandable. The same also applies to parameters and data structures. In this regard, NetFlix and Twitter offer several convincing examples.

Discovery and documentation- Even if the design of your APIs is good and the conventions are applied consistently; your developments will be of little use if they are not accompanied by a guide to functions and a way to explore the different endpoints. Fortunately, we have Swagger, a tool for developing and testing APIs.

Swagger is actually a specification that allows you to describe a RESTful API in a structured way, using JSON or YAML as description languages. Surrounding this specification are a set of tools for controlling markers and generating HTML documentation.

One of the key points of Swagger is model validation. You define the data structures returned by endpoints during the API documentation process. You can document fields, whether required or optional, as well as value ranges and constraints. You can also rely on some libraries to validate incoming data at runtime and return error information if the validation fails. This saves time and ensures that the code works on entry.

Access and testing- One of the first hurdles encountered when getting started with an API is understanding how it works. No matter how well described and trained, the API should be tested early in the development process. One of the key tools in this area is Postman, an extension to the Chrome browser. Postman allows you to define collections of endpoints with URLs, parameters, headers, and data that should be executed. Once defined, an endpoint can be run with a single click, and the performance of the call evaluated.

There are many things to consider in API Design and Development. One of the most structuring deals with version control. But by following the methods listed in this article, you will be able to create suitable APIs that are visible and can be easily tested. In the end, this will allow you to avoid API management chaos.