Everything I've Learned About APIs But Been Too Afraid To Talk About... Until Now

Slide deck from the talk on APIs I gave at Laravel Live UK 2024.

Transcript

1. Michael Price Lead Developer, Aero Commerce
2. 👋
3. Michael Price Lead Developer, Aero Commerce Integration Specialist 20+ Years Experience 👤
4. Father of two Volunteer at Darlington Football Club Webmaster and Commentator 👤
5. (NENDEST) NARKOOTIKUMIDEST EI TEA ME (KÜLL) MIDAGI 5MIINUST x PUULUUP
6. EVERYTHING I’VE LEARNED ABOUT APIS BUT BEEN TOO AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT …UNTIL NOW.
7. WHAT’S THIS TALK ABOUT? • WHAT APIS ARE USED FOR • WHAT TO DO - AND WHAT NOT TO DO • …WHETHER CREATING OR CONSUMING • BEST PRACTICES • TIPS AND TRICKS
8. WHAT IS AN API?
9. WHAT IS AN API? • APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE • A WAY FOR TWO APPLICATIONS TO “TALK” TO EACH OTHER • AN “APPLICATION” CAN BE SOFTWARE, SUCH AS A WEBSITE, OR MOBILE APP… • …OR HARDWARE SUCH AS A CARD TERMINAL OR SMART SPEAKER
10. WHAT IS AN API? • APIS EXPOSE ENDPOINTS • YOUR APPLICATION CALLS THESE ENDPOINTS TO GET, CREATE OR UPDATE DATA
11. • GEOLOCATION • SEARCH • MAPS • PLACES • DIRECTIONS GOOGLE MAPS
12. • LEAGUE TABLES • DIRECT DEBITS • PAYPAL • TICKETING • CUSTOM DARLINGTON FC
13. • PAYMENTS • EPOS • STOCK CONTROL • ANALYTICS • CRM AERO
14. • PLAYLISTS • ARTISTS • ALBUMS • TRACKS SPOTIFY
15. COMMON API TYPES • SOAP • SIMPLE OBJECT ACCESS PROTOCOL • XML ONLY
16. COMMON API TYPES • REST • REPRESENTATIONAL STATE TRANSFER • FLEXIBLE PAYLOADS (JSON, XML, PLAIN TEXT ETC.)
17. COMMON API TYPES • GRAPHQL • ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED AT FACEBOOK • JSON ONLY
18. AUTHENTICATION
19. AUTHENTICATION • HTTP BASIC • API KEY • OAUTH • JWT
20. USE THE RIGHT REQUEST METHOD
21. USE THE RIGHT REQUEST METHOD - retrieve a list of resources - retrieve a speci fi c resource - create a new resource - replace a resource - update a resource - delete a resource
22. USE THE RIGHT HEADERS
23. USE THE RIGHT HEADERS • Accept AND Content-Type • USEFUL IF AN API CAN OUTPUT MULTIPLE CONTENT TYPES
24. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES
25. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES • 200 OK • 201 Created • 202 Accepted • 204 No Content 2xx - THE GOOD ONES
26. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES • 301 Permanent Redirect • 302 Temporary Redirect • 304 Not Modified • 307 Permanent Redirect • 308 Temporary Redirect 3xx - THE INFORMATIONAL ONES
27. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES • 400 Bad Request • 401 Unauthorised • 403 Forbidden • 404 Not Found 4xx - THE CLIENT ERRORS
28. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES • 405 Method Not Allowed • 429 Too Many Requests • 418 I’m a teapot 4xx - THE CLIENT ERRORS
29. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES • 500 Internal Server Error • 502 Bad Gateway • 503 Service Unavailable • 504 Gateway Timeout 5xx - THE SERVER ERRORS
30. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES
31. USE THE RIGHT STATUS CODES
32. RETURNING CONTENT
33. RETURNING CONTENT
34. RESPECT RATE LIMITS
35. RESPECT RATE LIMITS IF YOU GET THIS… …TRY AND DO THIS
36. DOCUMENTATION
37. DOCUMENTATION • BE THOROUGH • INCLUDE EXAMPLE PAYLOADS • INCLUDE EXAMPLE RESPONSES • USE THE OPENAPI SPEC • CONSIDER PROVIDING AN SDK • …AND A SANDBOX / PLAYGROUND
38. DOCUMENTATION SWAGGER / OPENAPI Source: swagger.io
39. DOCUMENTATION REDOC Source: redocly.com
40. DOCUMENTATION STOPLIGHT Source: stoplight.io
41. DOCUMENTATION SLATE Source: github.com/slatedocs/slate
42. TESTING TOOLS
43. TESTING TOOLS POSTMAN Source: postman.com
44. TESTING TOOLS RAPIDAPI
45. TESTING TOOLS INSOMNIA Source: insomnia.rest
46. TESTING TOOLS HURL Source: hurl.dev
47. X: @mikkyx82 LinkedIn michael.price@aerocommerce.com
48. 🙂
49. Q+A