API Developer Weekly – September 1, 2016 – Issue #126
A hand-curated weekly newsletter for API developers, published with permission from LaunchAny and CaseySoftware.
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Hot Topics
GraphQL Seems Like We Do Not Want To Do The Hard Work Of API Design
It seems like you would attract 5 very technical API developers who would love it, but then exclude 5 non-technical users. Why not just make a simple and limited API, and have a conversation with all 10 users about what they need, and come up with an agile way to design, deploy, and manage new paths, and additional parameters to your existing paths. [apievangelist.com]
GraphQL: The next generation of API design
This post was written as a response to Kin Lane’s post, “GraphQL Seems Like We Do Not Want To Do The Hard Work Of API Design.” I sometimes hear people talk about how GraphQL is too complicated to be a good replacement for REST. by Sashko Stubailo [medium.com]
RESTFul API Versioning Insights
When it comes to API versioning there are so many best practices and insights but there is still not a rock solid best practice. In order to understand the Restful API versioning we first need to understand the problem. The Versioning Problem One shall not break your clients Changing your [blog.restcase.com]
Be Explicit with Your API’s Data
I recently managed to take a feeling I’ve had about API design and formulate it into a specific recommendation: Be explicit about state when crossing system boundaries. One of the software packages I support is an API that provides data to a collection of small (physical) displays. by Mike Swieton [spin.atomicobject.com]
Amazon Introduces API Gateway Usage Plans
Amazon recently updated their API Gateway service to include Usage Plans. A common pattern for companies that expose their APIs, include monetizing them through a 3rd party developer ecosystem. Usage Plans allow an organization to manage 3rd party developer consumption patterns and billing at an API key level. [infoq.com]
The state of our API Strategy
This is a (slightly adapted) version of a response to a sales enquiry of an API Management vendor. We had contacted them a year ago but the sales lead back then felt that our focus on ‘just enough API management’ was too narrow and not addressing the larger needs (and bigger deal) of the ‘Digital Transformation’ of the Haufe Group. [dev.haufe.com]
Video: API-first Architecture Transformation at Etsy
Stefanie Schirmer talks about the case study of building an API-first architecture at Etsy. She talks about what problems prompted this drastic change, the new tools they had to build to be able to work with the new system and what mistakes they made along the way. [infoq.com]
Beyond API Discovery: The Many Considerations Needed At Runtime
Discussions on API discovery these days tend to be technical, which is fine. But as the community matures, other decisions need to be better discussed as well. [dzone.com]
Video: Escaping the Bikeshed with JSON-API
Rob Valk introduces the JSON-API 1.0 spec, taking a look at JVM ecosystem support for the standard with the katharsis.io library and its integration with the Mule runtime. [infoq.com]
Github: ory-am/hydra
hydra – Run your very own low-latency, api-only, cloud native OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider within minutes. Integrates with existing authentication mechanisms. Written in Google Go. [github.com]
Stormpath’s Java SDK 1.0 Released
Stormpath this week released version 1.0 of their user management and authentication Java SDK. Stormpath generally provides APIs for implementing authentication, authorization and user management in web and mobile applications, including open source implementations, targeting a range of languages and frameworks. [infoq.com]
API Digest #51: How to Run the Country Using APIs
Summer is dying, but not the API Digest series! In this episode, you can find pieces telling about the following: Singapore will run the country using APIs API lifecycle governance best practices Kin Lane encourages to stop REST shaming Pokemon Go API fiasco exemplifies mobile API security concerns The role of webhooks in the API world 5 mistakes that can destroy your API strategy Singaporeans no longer have to puzzle over who to contact with their specific municipal issues and concerns. [api2cart.com]
REST Fest – RESTful Web Services Unconference in Greenville, SC, USA – September 15 – 17, 2016
REST Fest is a unique blend of presentations and collaborative unconference goodness. The keynote sits directly in the middle of the conference schedule with hackday, workshop, session, talks, and 5-in-5 lightening talks surrounding it. [2016.restfest.org]
APIStrat Boston 2016 – Nov 2-4
APIStrat Boston – under the direction of our 2016 Program Chair Lorinda Brandon – is already shaping up to be our best program ever. Our three days of workshops, keynotes, fireside chats and speaker sessions 2016 reflect the maturity and diversity of the API business and community today. [boston2016.apistrat.com]
Upcoming Web API Events
A list of upcoming Web API Events, maintained by Matthew Reinbold
The Business of APIs
Enterprise Does Not Know (Care) How Big And Destructive It Is To APIs
It seems like the simplicity, low cost, and user-centricity of APIs will be paved over at every turn, replacing the web in API with more vendor-friendly solutions with an HTTP facade that smiles like it’s the web. [apievangelist.com]
NISO Launches New Project to Create a Flexible API Framework for E-Content in Libraries
Voting Members of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) have approved a new project to modernize library-vendor technical interoperability to improve the access of digital library content and electronic books. Interested participants, especially those with experience in library vendor software and/or use of APIs and REST and mobile technologies, are encouraged to contact NISO regarding working group formation. [niso.org]
WSO2 White Paper Presents Reference Architecture for Enabling Connected Education Ecosystem
Increasingly, educational institutions are going beyond the use of technology to ensure efficiency and speed, and they are moving toward the concept of a connected education ecosystem that enables students, educators and researchers to easily access and share information. [api.report]
G.E., the 124-Year-Old Software Start-Up
It may not qualify as a lightning-bolt eureka moment, but Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric, recalls the June day in 2009 that got him thinking. He was speaking with G.E. scientists about new jet engines they were building, laden with sensors to generate a trove of data from every flight – but to what end? by Steve Lohr [nytimes.com]
The API for absurdity
Every important technology goes through a hype cycle. You’ve probably seen the Gartner Hype Cycle diagram: inflated expectations, followed by despair and eventually a pragmatic understanding of the technology’s value. World-changing promises tend to turn into mundane reality – if they don’t fall off the roller coaster entirely. Do you agree or disagree with David’s perspective? by David Lee [techcrunch.com]
(Un)Related Topics
As enterprises splinter, so does enterprise architecture (but in a good way)
Enterprise architecture (EA) is entering a new phase, driven by the ongoing splintering of enterprises. The discipline has been carefully crafted over the past couple of decades as a process-driven, well-documented exercise intended to develop a roadmap to prevent organizations from spending big money on technologies that don’t produce value for the business. by Joe McKendrick [zdnet.com]
Some observations about Microsoft-GE enterprise IoT partnership
Microsoft and GE just announced a strategic alliance to enable a new generation of industrial enterprise solutions. The core of the partnership is based on enabling GE’s Predix IoT platform on Microsoft’s Azure cloud. Beyond the headlines, this partnership could have profound implications for the future of the enterprise IoT market. by Jesus Rodriguez [cio.com]
451 Research: Bots are the New Tech Gold Rush
451 Research’s analysts believe that bots are the new tech gold rush. Although media hype has put the spotlight on smart bots and their use for customer engagement and ‘conversational commerce’, 451 Research believes their impact extends beyond consumer-facing apps. [api.report]
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