Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot: Understanding API Usage

Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot: Understanding API Usage Clay Loveless Chief Architect, Mashery @claylo OSCON July 22 2010

APIs Gone Wild If You Build It ... Itʼll Turn On You Someday

APIs Gone Wild If You Build It ... Itʼll Turn On You Someday GET Overview What Happens When Things 200 Go Wrong? PUT 200 5 Tips to Stay Ahead GET 200 The Secret 6th Tip GET 503

Multiple Points of Failure APIs Can Mean Exponential New Failure Opportunities

Multiple Points of Failure APIs Can Mean Exponential New Failure Opportunities Backend Systems • DB Servers/Caches • Hardware failures • Power hiccups • Incomplete reboots

Multiple Points of Failure APIs Can Mean Exponential New Failure Opportunities Backend Systems Interconnections • DB Servers/Caches • Router failures • Hardware failures • Bad cables • Power hiccups • Severed internets • Incomplete reboots • Remote-hands fail

Multiple Points of Failure APIs Can Mean Exponential New Failure Opportunities Backend Systems Interconnections External Deps • DB Servers/Caches • Router failures • Fail Whales • Hardware failures • Bad cables • Unannounced • Power hiccups • Severed internets upgrades • Incomplete reboots • Remote-hands fail • Random cloud latency

The Retry Effect “Try Again in a Few Moments” = Right Now Successful Concurrent 600 450 Requests 300 150 Seconds

The Five Tips

Tip 1: Test It All Seriously, Test It All

Tip 1: Test It All Seriously, Test It All Unit Tests Are Just the Beginning If you donʼt have them yet, start elsewhere

Tip 1: Test It All Seriously, Test It All Unit Tests Are Just the Beginning If you donʼt have them yet, start elsewhere Test What Users Experience End-to-End Black Box tests

Tip 1: Test It All Seriously, Test It All Unit Tests Are Just the Beginning If you donʼt have them yet, start elsewhere Test What Users Experience End-to-End Black Box tests Replay Your Access Logs More accurate than assumptions in unit tests

Tip 1: Test It All Seriously, Test It All Unit Tests Are Just the Beginning If you donʼt have them yet, start elsewhere Test What Users Experience End-to-End Black Box tests Replay Your Access Logs More accurate than assumptions in unit tests Validate Return Payloads A stack trace is not valid XML

Tip 2: Plan for Future Versions The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow

Tip 2: Plan for Future Versions The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow Versions. Whoʼda thunk it? Yes, versioning is useful beyond the code powering your API.

Tip 2: Plan for Future Versions The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow Versions. Whoʼda thunk it? Yes, versioning is useful beyond the code powering your API. Versions Arenʼt Sexy/Semantic Do it anyway, & stand up straight.

Tip 2: Plan for Future Versions The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow Versions. Whoʼda thunk it? Yes, versioning is useful beyond the code powering your API. Versions Arenʼt Sexy/Semantic Do it anyway, & stand up straight. Announce Versions Often No one likes surprises when it comes to API behavior.

Tip 3: Embrace Standards When Practical APIs Are Better When Predictable

Tip 3: Embrace Standards When Practical APIs Are Better When Predictable Standard Approaches Mean Tools Itʼs easier to monitor anomalies on non-unique snowﬂakes.

Tip 3: Embrace Standards When Practical APIs Are Better When Predictable Standard Approaches Mean Tools Itʼs easier to monitor anomalies on non-unique snowﬂakes. Avoid Uncomfortable Migrations No one wants an OAuthpocalypse.

Tip 3: Embrace Standards When Practical APIs Are Better When Predictable Standard Approaches Mean Tools Itʼs easier to monitor anomalies on non-unique snowﬂakes. Avoid Uncomfortable Migrations No one wants an OAuthpocalypse. Enhance Runtime Validation Standards can make it easier to detect+reject bogus calls earlier in the request pipeline.

Tip 4: Monitor Everything & Be Honest Slow Status Dashboards Suck More Than No Dashboard

Tip 4: Monitor Everything & Be Honest Slow Status Dashboards Suck More Than No Dashboard Test It All, All the Time Better if you notice before your users notice.

Tip 4: Monitor Everything & Be Honest Slow Status Dashboards Suck More Than No Dashboard Test It All, All the Time Better if you notice before your users notice. Trends Are Your Friends Canʼt spot trends without continuous monitoring

Tip 4: Monitor Everything & Be Honest Slow Status Dashboards Suck More Than No Dashboard Test It All, All the Time Better if you notice before your users notice. Trends Are Your Friends Canʼt spot trends without continuous monitoring Fess Up Fast No user wants to think theyʼre your early-warning ops team.

Tip 4: Monitor Everything & Be Honest Slow Status Dashboards Suck More Than No Dashboard Test It All, All the Time Better if you notice before your users notice. Trends Are Your Friends Canʼt spot trends without continuous monitoring Fess Up Fast No user wants to think theyʼre your early-warning ops team. Be Open Automatically Real-time public health instills trust.

Tip 5: Fail Well Donʼt Ice Me, Bro

Tip 5: Fail Well Donʼt Ice Me, Bro Well-formed Errors Win Friends Developers are more tolerant of failure if you anticipate the possibility.

Tip 5: Fail Well Donʼt Ice Me, Bro Well-formed Errors Win Friends Developers are more tolerant of failure if you anticipate the possibility. Make Monitoring Easy The more obvious the failure, the easier it is to spot.

Tip 5: Fail Well Donʼt Ice Me, Bro Well-formed Errors Win Friends Developers are more tolerant of failure if you anticipate the possibility. Make Monitoring Easy The more obvious the failure, the easier it is to spot. Donʼt Punish Everyone Determine who gets hurt most by failures, and screw them last (or not at all).

The Shameless Plug

Tip 6: Use an API Management Service Like ... Mashery!

Tip 6: Use an API Management Service Like ... Mashery! Managed API Service FTW Use a service with active monitoring and a support team. Let them call you ﬁrst.

Tip 6: Use an API Management Service Like ... Mashery! Managed API Service FTW Use a service with active monitoring and a support team. Let them call you ﬁrst. Reports Covering Entire Ecosystem Make sure reports & analytics cover the entire spectrum of your APIʼs usage.

Tip 6: Use an API Management Service Like ... Mashery! Managed API Service FTW Use a service with active monitoring and a support team. Let them call you ﬁrst. Reports Covering Entire Ecosystem Make sure reports & analytics cover the entire spectrum of your APIʼs usage. Get Help Building Meaningful Community Nothing tells your developers you care like a community with a pulse.

Did I Mention the Free Beer? Free beer as in FREE BEER. OSCON API Hour 7-9pm TONIGHT @ The EastBurn 1800 East Burnside Street Just a 5 minute cab ride. Mmm, beeer. And vintage games. Clay Loveless Chief Architect Wear Your OSCON Badge 2-3 drinks in, youʼll be happy clay@mashery.com everyone has nametags. Twitter: @claylo

Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot: Understanding API Usage

by Clay Loveless on Jul 22, 2010

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Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot: Understanding API Usage Presentation Transcript

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