03 API Design

API Design Overview

• Objectives: Design APIs effectively, apply best practices, perform versioning, and secure APIs.

Understanding API

• API: Application Programming Interface that allows applications to communicate.

API Product Mindset

• Treat APIs as products, focusing on user needs and feedback.

• Measure success through adoption and business impact.

API Design Principles

• Developer Empathy: Prioritize user-centric design.

• Granularity: Use re-usable APIs and maintain simplicity.

• Security: Tailor security measures according to risk levels.

• Documentation: Ensure APIs are discoverable and well-documented.

• Endpoint Stability: Versions must be backward compatible.

API Architectural Styles

• SOAP: Used for secure enterprise-level services.

• REST: Scalable and flexible; uses stateless protocols.

• GraphQL: Allows clients to request specific data, reducing over-fetching.

• gRPC: Designed for low-latency applications.

RESTful Principles

• Client-Server: Separation of concerns.

• Stateless: No server-side state; enhances scalability.

• Uniform Interface: Resource identification via URIs and standard HTTP methods.

API Design Best Practices

• Use meaningful resource names (nouns, plural).

• Apply HTTP Methods consistently.

• Enable request idempotency.

• Use query parameters for filtering and pagination.

• Provide meaningful feedback in responses.

API Versioning

• Versioning can be managed through URI versioning or custom headers.

API Security

• Use OAuth 2.0 for authorization; validate parameters and implement SSL.

Advanced Topics

• Analyze API performance metrics and monitoring strategies.

• Implement caching strategies for improved performance.