Building your API Utility Belt

No matter the situation, Batman always had the perfect tool on hand. It didn't matter how rare, bizarre, or unique the situation was, he was ready to save the day. Unfortunately, in software development, we don't have a utility belt. At best, our tools are scripts we've cobbled together over the years that solve particular problems but leave us stuck more often than not. In this talk, we'll work to change that. This talk will introduce you to seven tools that are vital to everyday API usage and development.

Transcript

1. BUILDING YOUR
   API UTILITY BELT
   D. KEITH CASEY JR. @CASEYSOFTWARE
   KEITH@CASEYSOFTWARE.COM
   

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2. Who am I?
   

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3. Who am I?
   

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4. Who am I?
   http://TheAPIDesignBook.com
   

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5. AGENDA
   ASSUMPTIONS
   THE PROBLEMS
   THE STATUS QUO
   THE RIGHT TOOLS
   

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6. Disclaimer
   Some of the tools and services covered here are
   open source, some are commercial products, and
   some are a blend of both.
   I have no vested interest in any of them though I
   know people at all of the companies involved.
   * Also, all pictures used without permission or attribution.
   

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7. AGENDA
   ASSUMPTIONS
   THE PROBLEMS
   THE STATUS QUO
   THE RIGHT TOOLS
   

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8. Assumptions
   You have a technical background
   
   APIs are an important part of your job
   
   Use them on a regular basis
   
   Potentially build them too
   
   Sometimes public, sometimes private
   

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9. Assumptions
   Nothing is perfect
   
   You make mistakes
   
   Your providers make mistakes
   
   That other team are knuckleheads
   

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10. Assumptions
    You acknowledge the real Batman
    
    Ben Afleck
    
    Christian Bale
    
    George Clooney
    
    Val Kilmer
    
    Michael Keaton
    

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11. Assumptions
    You acknowledge the real Batman
    
    Ben Afleck
    
    Christian Bale
    
    George Clooney
    
    Val Kilmer
    
    Michael Keaton
    

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12. Assumptions
    

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13. AGENDA
    ASSUMPTIONS
    THE PROBLEMS
    THE STATUS QUO
    THE RIGHT TOOLS
    

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14. The Problems…
    

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15. Only one problem:
    Testing APIs sucks.
    

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16. AGENDA
    ASSUMPTIONS
    THE PROBLEMS
    THE STATUS QUO
    THE RIGHT TOOLS
    

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17. The Status Quo…
    

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18. The Status Quo
    No wait, that sucks too.
    

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19. AGENDA
    ASSUMPTIONS
    THE PROBLEMS
    THE STATUS QUO
    THE RIGHT TOOLS
    

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20. TOOL 1:
    CURL & LIBCURL
    

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21. Background
    Completely open source with tons of integrations
    
    Incredible power and flexibility
    
    Incredible complexity
    

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22. Common Commands
    -X specify an HTTP verb
    
    -d specify data fields, such as for a POST
    
    -I return/display all the returned headers
    
    -H specify extra/custom headers
    

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23. Getting Started
    curl https://api.github.com
    
    curl -I https://api.github.com
    
    curl https://api.github.com/user/repos
    
    curl -u caseysoftware -X POST https://
    api.github.com/user/repos -d ‘{“name”:”monkey”}’
    

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24. http://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html
    (35 pages, no kidding..)
    

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25. TOOL 2:
    POSTMAN
    

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26. Background
    Started in Sept 2013, raised $1MM May 2015
    
    Over 3M users (as of June 2016)
    
    Free but with some paid extensions
    

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27. Common Commands
    (there really aren’t any - point & click)
    

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28. Getting Started
    (psst.. open postman)
    

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29. The Real Power
    

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30. https://www.getpostman.com/docs
    

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31. TOOL 3: BDD IRL
    

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32. Background
    Different from Unit Testing in that we step outside
    the system and take the users’ point of view
    
    Tools in just about every language:
    
    Cucumber, Behave, Behat, etc
    
    Uses the Gherkin syntax
    

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33. Our Syntax
    It’s English, but in the Gherkin syntax so this:
    
    As a [role] I want [feature] so that [benefit]
    
    becomes a feature structured as:
    
    Given [condition] when I [action] then [result]
    
    

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34. Getting Started
    

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35. http://docs.behat.org/
    

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36. TOOL 4: FIDDLER
    

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37. Background
    Created by Telerik, based on .NET (Mono)
    
    Serves as a local proxy, not a tool for requests
    
    Free to use; some paid, some free extensions
    
    Geoedge - route traffic through 130 locations
    

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38. Common Functionality
    Active Man in the Middle (MITM)
    
    Logging and Recording
    
    Traffic & Payload Analysis
    
    Manipulation/Modification
    
    Your logs kept locally
    

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41. http://www.telerik.com/fiddler
    http://www.telerik.com/fiddler/add-ons
    

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42. TOOL 5: API TOOLS
    

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43. Background
    Powered by 3Scale (acquired by Redhat recently)
    
    Serves as a proxy, not a tool for requests
    
    Web-based, only good for public APIs
    
    OSS - local via RPM (or Vagrant or Docker)
    

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44. Common Functionality
    Active Man in the Middle (MITM)
    
    Logging and Recording
    
    Traffic & Payload Analysis
    
    Manipulation/Modification
    
    Your logs kept locally (or in the cloud!)
    

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45. TOOL 6: STOPLIGHT.IO
    

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46. Background
    Started Dec 2014, still Beta but interesting
    
    Serves as: a proxy & documentation generator
    
    Web-based, primarily for public APIs
    
    Using ngrok, you can share localhost
    

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47. Common Functionality
    Active Man in the Middle (MITM)
    
    Logging and Recording
    
    Traffic & Payload Analysis
    
    Generates Documentation
    
    Heavy focus on collaboration & sharing
    

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48. Getting Started
    (psst.. open stoplight)
    

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49. https://designer.stoplight.io/docs
    

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50. TOOL 7:
    RUNSCOPE
    

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51. Background
    Started in Dec 2012, funded by a16z and others
    
    Serves as a proxy, performance monitoring, usage
    tracking, unit testing, monitoring, etc
    
    Web-based, primarily for public APIs
    
    Using ngrok, you can share localhost
    

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52. Common Functionality
    Active Man in the Middle (MITM)
    
    Logging and Recording
    
    Traffic & Payload Analysis
    
    Your logs are kept in the cloud
    
    Incredibly easy to share requests & callbacks
    

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53. Getting Started
    https://runscope.com
    

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54. https://runscope.com/docs
    

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55. To compare…
    Active MITM? Logs? Collaboration?
    Docs
    Generation?
    Testing &
    Validation?
    Fiddler yes local no no no
    API Tools yes internal share results no yes
    Stoplight.io yes local for definitions yes no
    Runscope yes cloud share results no yes
    

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56. AGENDA
    ASSUMPTIONS
    THE PROBLEMS
    THE STATUS QUO
    THE RIGHT TOOLS
    

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59. D. KEITH CASEY JR. @CASEYSOFTWARE
    KEITH@CASEYSOFTWARE.COM
    BUILDING YOUR
    API UTILITY BELT
    

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60. Who am I?
    http://TheAPIDesignBook.com
    

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