Harmony in API Design

By Jakub Nesetril @ API Strategy & Practice Conference
San Francisco, October 23-24-25, 2013

Transcript

1. Harmony in API Design jakub@apiary.io
2. What is an API?
5. API is UI to Data
6. API is UI to Data
7. API is UI to Data User Experience
8. API is UI to Data User Experience Design
9. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Emotions
10. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Emotions
11. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Emotions Culturally Dependent
12. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Simplicity Emotions Culturally Dependent
13. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Simplicity Emotions Productivity Culturally Dependent
14. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Simplicity Conversion Rates Emotions Productivity Culturally Dependent
15. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Simplicity Conversion Rates Emotions Productivity Usability Studies Culturally Dependent
16. API is UI to Data User Experience Design Subjective Simplicity Conversion Rates Emotions Productivity Culturally Dependent Hackathons
17. Nobody thinks THEIR design sucks
20. Provider Consumer
21. Provider Consumer Java Rails Scala Erlang
22. Provider Consumer Java Rails Scala Erlang jQuery ObjC PHP
23. Provider Consumer Uptime Caching Security Maintenance Versioning Validation Java Rails Scala Erlang jQuery ObjC PHP
24. Provider Consumer Uptime Caching Security Maintenance Versioning Validation Can It Be Done? Debugging Support TTFHW Example Latency Java Rails Scala Erlang jQuery ObjC PHP
25. So?
26. 1. Start With a Wireframe •a design intent •usually an API description language •at Apiary we use API Blueprint
27. 2. Involve Your Customers •find your early-adopters before you code •create an API mock that they can use •fork/pull-request
28. 3. Have Great Documentation •generated automatically •must be exhaustive and up-to-date •your code is automatically tested; so must your documentation
29. 4. Separate Contract from Implementation
30. Summary •API is UI for Data & Interface between cultures •Involve your customers early •Automate
31. @apiaryio http://apiary.io/ ! @jakubnesetril Thank You