techadministratorWhat is API First Approach?
An API-first approach can be defined for any given product development. Here APIs are considered as “first-class citizens.” It means everything in a project moves around the notion that the end product will be used by mobile devices, and that APIs will be used by client applications.
An API-first approach can be considered as developing APIs that are consistent and reusable, this is achieved by using an API description language to establish a contract for how the API is supposed to behave. Establishing a contract involves creating a design for an API.
To understand the concept lets think of this as you are building cloud-native applications. After the initial code is entered into your repository, automatically the testing process starts to run you have a release model running in a lab environment within seconds. Well, it is an amazing process and everything is running as you like.
Now, another team starts building parallax another service in your organization with your code interacts. And that team realizes how fluent your process is a gets onboard immediately. But what will happen if they don,t follow the same discipline as your team? There will be utter chaos.
To avoid this situation of Chaos and to formally recognize your API as a first-class artifact of the development process, API-first gives teams the ability to work against each other’s public contracts without interfering with internal development processes.
What Are The Main Principles Of API First Approach?
Basically, there are three main principles to follow while designing an API
First User Interface For Interaction In Your Application Should Be API.
API first approach means your API is the first interface for your application. This means people developing against your application are users, and your API needs to be designed with those users in mind.
Your API should be the first way to interact with your product, hence while creating the design this concept should be kept in mind. Just as you spend time with the graphical user interface, invest your time in designing the API so as to what it exposes, what it does and how it grows.
First Comes The API Then Comes Implementation
Once you realize that your API has its own Interface it makes you understand the importance of the API. When your application evolves your implementation evolves around it. But with API this is not applicable. API should evolve slowly and deliberately.
So it is important while product designing that API should be developed first around your implementation is quite understandable that change is inevitable so. So, changes should be planned before handed so that API evolution is smooth and perfect
Graceful API evolution is additive in terms of functionality, and subtractive in terms of requirements. So it is always recommended to treat your API independent from your implementation. Your API becomes a contract and specification to the implementation, instead of just being a thin veneer on top of your implementation.
API Should Be Well Documented.
API use should be easy to understand. All the implications should be well documented so the end-user doesn’t face any issue.
Documentation should be made understandable by a human so, its recommended to use structured documentation. Creating a standard process like standard URL, resource types, request methods, headers, request parameters, and response format theses things will make it a lot easier for a user to set up the API
One more thing is recommended is avoiding unnecessary complications or surprises in API design. If there is no other way around then use the proper documentation for the user to understand the deviation.
Standardize Your Process With API First Approach – A Standard Process
Well, there is no standard process but here are some ideas you can follow :
Think It Up!!!
It’s the most important step of all. First of all understand the implementation, key points, and features of your product. Figure out the kinds of APIs that should be built and which services should be offered via APIsNow write down all the use cases of each API you want to create. Understand each parameter carefully before proceeding to the next step.
Establish API Stakeholders
Understand each and every department that is to be involved while creating API. Create a collection of brainstorms from each stakeholder. Fix these stakeholders and check out from each point of view.
Design an API Contract
Create a standard contract that will create standards and best practices while designing an API. Create a proper document for each API. Ensure each API has a standard process, from endpoint names and URLs to error codes and versioning. Consistency is key.
Create a Style Guide
A comprehensive style guide ensures consistency across the members of a company who are building products. API status codes, versioning, error handling, and more will be standardized ensuring that APIs are designed the same way.
Implement API Governance
Ensure that all the design parameters are met that were set at the designing phase.
Automate Processes
Use various tools available to automate processes like generating API documentation API mocking, style validation, and versioning. Also, make APIs self-service so that developers can get started building apps with your APIs right away
Track And Manage Your API Portfolio
Create a standard portfolio by avoiding duplicate codes or duplicate processes. Create a proper portfolio so that it’s easier to follow a process. Create a portal for internal developers. Create a common place for all the developers working on API so that they can store and track the code they have created
Advantages of API First Approach
Ease of Workability
With API first approach several team members or many different teams can work parallelly on different aspects of a single product.
Lower Cost of Application Development
API first approach has an important aspect of reusability it allows code to be recycled from project to project so that development teams always have a baseline architecture with which they can work. With the elimination of starting work every time from start, the process becomes fast and with time there is a lot of capital saving also.
Increase Speed to Market
With the advent of automation with API, it is very easy for even a noob developer to understand the API first approach with the help of its documentation. With this, it becomes much easier to approach a huge marketplace. There is no need for the user to understand the backend working of the Application they can read the documentation and handle the API.
Most importantly, with an API first approach, you still have the flexibility to add new application product features without having to redesign the API architecture.
Improved Developer Experience
Developers use APIs on a daily basis so creating an API that provides a positive developer experience (DX) is essential. An API-first design helps to create a design that is easy to understand. API first approach leads to a positive developer experience.
Reduced Risk of Failure
API first approach allows for creating a standard process allowing the developer to work in a risk-free environment. With everything well documented and standardized there is very little space for failure
API First approach has created a positive influence over the software market. It is allowing the user to engage with the application with easy documentation. So it is necessary to follow API first approach for a successful API Integration