Building a Developer Platform

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BUILDING A DEVELOPER PLATFORM BRENDAN NEE

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CITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

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DEVELOPER Maps Open Data Javascript Node.js Python Front End Back End Developer Platforms

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AUTOMATIC

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BLINKTAG.COM

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YOU HAVE AN API YOU WANT DEVELOPERS TO USE IT

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ITS MORE THAN AN API ▸ Documentation ▸ Developer Website ▸ Libraries / SDKs ▸ Example Applications ▸ Developer Tools ▸ Tutorials ▸ App Gallery ▸ Developer Support ▸ Developer Notiﬁcations

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Publicity Developer Tools Useful Apps Recruitment BENEFITS OF A GOOD DEVELOPER PLATFORM Wider Reach Product Position

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DOCUMENTATION

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TEXT DOCUMENTATION ▸ Editability ▸ Versioning ▸ Single page, for easy search ▸ New users and existing users ▸ When in doubt, check what other good developer platforms use

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DEVELOPER WEBSITE

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developer.yoursite.com

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Documentation Developer Tools App Gallery Intro Developer Support Example Apps DEVELOPER WEBSITE Libraries Tutorials

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TEXT DEVELOPER WEBSITE ▸ Keep it simple, not fancy ▸ Focus on content ▸ Launch sooner rather than later

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AVOID UNNECESSARY FENCES

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LIBRARIES / SDKS

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OFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

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TO COPY OTHERS IS NECESSARY, BUT TO COPY ONESELF IS PATHETIC. Pablo Picasso TEXT

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TEXT LIBRARIES - DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL ▸ Take best practices from an existing library that is similar ▸ Use the same format for documentation and examples

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USE THE LIBRARY IN YOUR CORE APP.

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EXAMPLE APPS

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OFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

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DEVELOPER TOOLS

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TEXT DEVELOPER APPLICATION MANAGEMENT ▸ Support a developer owning multiple apps ▸ Support separate apps for staging and production ▸ API key and oAuth client/secret management ▸ App info: name, URL, oAuth redirect URL, category ▸ Scopes and permissions ▸ Webhook URL

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TEXT ADDITIONAL DEVELOPER TOOLS ▸ oAuth redirect URL generator ▸ Webhook/Websocket logs ▸ Application state / event simulator ▸ API playground

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TUTORIALS

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TEXT TYPES OF TUTORIALS ▸ “Hello World” ▸ Guide to building one of your sample apps ▸ Example of the most common use case ▸ Guide to a particularly tricky aspect of your service ▸ Tutorials in different popular languages and frameworks

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TEXT TUTORIALS ▸ Encourage developer feedback ▸ Push updates to the tutorial often ▸ Tutorials can help new team members, non-technical team members, partner organizations

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APP GALLERY

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TEXT APP GALLERY ▸ Expose useful 3rd party integrations of your service ▸ Determine API capabilities ▸ See novel uses of your API ▸ Developer recognition

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TEXT APP GALLERY PROMOTION ▸ Web based ▸ Integrated into your core app ▸ Highlight a new app in each developer newsletter ▸ Promote on developer social media

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DEVELOPER SUPPORT

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TEXT DEVELOPER SUPPORT ▸ [email protected] ▸ Assign a speciﬁc person to be responsible ▸ Zendesk ▸ Accept pull requests ▸ Respond quickly, even if you won’t have an answer right away

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MOST COMMON DEVELOPER QUESTIONS UPDATE DOCUMENTATION CREATE TOOLS SAMPLE APPS

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TEXT FEATURE REQUESTS ▸ Developer support lead should be a developer advocate ▸ Compile most common feature requests ▸ Advocate to team why these are needed ▸ Respond to developers that their requests have been noted ▸ Allow interested 3rd parties to beta test new feature to get feedback

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DEVELOPER NOTIFICATIONS

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TEXT DEVELOPER NOTIFICATIONS ▸ API changes ▸ Downtime ▸ New features/endpoints ▸ Required updates ▸ Example apps ▸ Featured apps

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TEXT DEVELOPER NOTIFICATION EMAILS ▸ Auto-subscribe developers ▸ Allow unsubscribe ▸ Don’t use for marketing purposes ▸ Keep email format simple ▸ Publish on developer blog as well ▸ Reply address [email protected]

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DEVELOPER PLATFORM RECAP ▸ Documentation ▸ Developer Website ▸ Libraries ▸ Example Applications ▸ Developer Tools ▸ Tutorials ▸ App Gallery ▸ Developer Support ▸ Developer Notiﬁcations

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BRENDAN NEE QUESTIONS @BRENDANNEE