Building Apis That Rock

Building APIs That Rock Congratulations: If you’re here, you’re a nerd! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

hi. i’m eaton. • • Voting API eaton@lullabot.com • • Token eaton in #drupal • • Form API twitter.com/eaton • Render API • • @eaton is rambling in the Amazon API #drupalapi presentation. • no puppets yet! Twitter API Wednesday, March 4, 2009

You Have Been Deceived Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/diamondduste/1918745208/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Drupal, 2004 http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/diamondduste/1918745208/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/2314610838/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Drupal, 2009 http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/2314610838/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jphilipson/582274247/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Your Module http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jphilipson/582274247/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What is an API? (Hint: If it’s got comments, it’s fair game) Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/noahwesley/120499365/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

This is your code. http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/noahwesley/120499365/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

This is your code. Can other devs use it? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/noahwesley/120499365/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

An interface to reusable features http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

An Features! Ponies! interface to reusable features http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Your API An Features! Ponies! interface to reusable features http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Your UI Your API An Features! Ponies! interface to reusable features http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Your UI Code! Your API An Features! Ponies! interface to reusable features http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/splorp/126523012/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

An abstraction that hides complexity Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mikereys/2643220264/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

An agreement about how things are done http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mikereys/2643220264/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentlemen! A Recap! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentlemen! A Recap! • Drupal is complicated Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentlemen! A Recap! • Drupal is complicated • APIs let other code use your features Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentlemen! A Recap! • Drupal is complicated • APIs let other code use your features • APIs hide complexity Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gentlemen! A Recap! • Drupal is complicated • APIs let other code use your features • APIs hide complexity • APIs get everyone on the same page Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Screw this. Let’s make an API. http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/djou/2908514697/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

When two modules love each other very much The real story of how one API came to be Wednesday, March 4, 2009

VotingAPI 0.1 “This module looks cool, but that one works better…” Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Find the nouns! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Find the nouns! They’re your data! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Find the nouns! They’re your data! Find the verbs! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Find the nouns! They’re your data! Find the verbs! They’re your functions! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Step 2: Evolution! Are the verbs and nouns ﬂexible enough? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Step 3: Planning Ahead Letting other modules do the unanticipated Wednesday, March 4, 2009

SCREW YOU, MISTER API DESIGNER GUY http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What happens when someone adds a new type? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What happens when someone adds a new type? What happens when another person does? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What happens when someone adds a new type? What happens when another person does? Use enums for lists that won’t change. http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What happens when someone adds a new type? What happens when another person does? Use enums for lists that won’t change. Use strings for stuff you can’t predict http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/jayd/3296037643 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Boldly going where no module has gone before Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Boldly going where no module has gone before (planning ahead) Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the verbs? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the verbs? Are you doing things other modules care about? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the verbs? Are you doing things other modules care about? module_invoke_all() It’s like party invitations for code Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the nouns? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the nouns? Are you building data other modules want to change? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember the nouns? Are you building data other modules want to change? drupal_alter() It’s like passing around the doobie of data Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Is your name Adrian? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Is your name Adrian? Perhaps Earl? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Is your name Adrian? Perhaps Earl? Custom data structures Build it, let modules alter it, then do stuff with it. Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! • Identify verbs and nouns Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! • Identify verbs and nouns • Layer your verbs to hide complexity Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! • Identify verbs and nouns • Layer your verbs to hide complexity • Account for new uses Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! • Identify verbs and nouns • Layer your verbs to hide complexity • Account for new uses • Broadcast events via hooks Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Stop! Hammertime! • Identify verbs and nouns • Layer your verbs to hide complexity • Account for new uses • Broadcast events via hooks • Let modules alter data Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/tonyjcase/2847943252/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Seven Deadly Sins http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/tonyjcase/2847943252/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Lone Ranger Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Lone Ranger • Reinventing the wheel Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Lone Ranger • Reinventing the wheel • Ignoring conventions Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Lone Ranger • Reinventing the wheel • Ignoring conventions • Ignoring related APIs! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Lone Ranger • Reinventing the wheel • Ignoring conventions • Ignoring related APIs! • Common for newcomers, or obsessives Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Invisible Assumptions Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Invisible Assumptions • Assuming the global $user Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Invisible Assumptions • Assuming the global $user • Checking arg(0)… Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Invisible Assumptions • Assuming the global $user • Checking arg(0)… • Assuming logged in users… Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Invisible Assumptions • Assuming the global $user • Checking arg(0)… • Assuming logged in users… • Common with UI-bound APIs Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Helping them to death Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Helping them to death • “I’ll set the breadcrumb while I’m at it...” Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Helping them to death • “I’ll set the breadcrumb while I’m at it...” • “And I’ll send an email, too!” Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Helping them to death • “I’ll set the breadcrumb while I’m at it...” • “And I’ll send an email, too!” • “And add these links, and…” Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Helping them to death • “I’ll set the breadcrumb while I’m at it...” • “And I’ll send an email, too!” • “And add these links, and…” • Common when an API grows out of a speciﬁc use case, or an existing module Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction • “Just use this function…” Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction • “Just use this function…” • ...And learn everything underneath it. Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction • “Just use this function…” • ...And learn everything underneath it. • Common in complex problem domains Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction • “Just use this function…” • ...And learn everything underneath it. • Common in complex problem domains • Simplify, or get out of the way Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Leaky Abstraction • “Just use this function…” • ...And learn everything underneath it. • Common in complex problem domains • Simplify, or get out of the way • Sometimes, problems are just complicated. Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fake Flexibility Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fake Flexibility • “Oh, you can save any data…” (votingapi) Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fake Flexibility • “Oh, you can save any data…” (votingapi) • “Oh, there’s a hook for that…” (blogapi) Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fake Flexibility • “Oh, you can save any data…” (votingapi) • “Oh, there’s a hook for that…” (blogapi) • Build 3 test implementations Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fake Flexibility • “Oh, you can save any data…” (votingapi) • “Oh, there’s a hook for that…” (blogapi) • Build 3 test implementations • Step through different use cases Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mission Creep Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mission Creep • Even worse than feature creep Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mission Creep • Even worse than feature creep • Common with “solve-a-big-problem” APIs Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mission Creep • Even worse than feature creep • Common with “solve-a-big-problem” APIs • Focus, focus, focus. Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mission Creep • Even worse than feature creep • Common with “solve-a-big-problem” APIs • Focus, focus, focus. • Split into complementary APIs Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dependency Soup Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dependency Soup • The ﬂip side of mission creep Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dependency Soup • The ﬂip side of mission creep • Focus, focus, focus! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dependency Soup • The ﬂip side of mission creep • Focus, focus, focus! • Make the dependencies optional Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dependency Soup • The ﬂip side of mission creep • Focus, focus, focus! • Make the dependencies optional • Pray for a package manager Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate • Don’t assume too much Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate • Don’t assume too much • Don’t be pushy Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate • Don’t assume too much • Don’t be pushy • Simplify or step aside Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate • Don’t assume too much • Don’t be pushy • Simplify or step aside • Test your extensions Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh, the Recappery! • Cooperate • Don’t assume too much • Don’t be pushy • Simplify or step aside • Test your extensions • Stay focused Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/-sel-/60124578/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What? That’s it? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/-sel-/60124578/ Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Thanks, flickr! • • http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikereys http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayd • • http://www.flickr.com/photos/splorp http://www.flickr.com/photos/djou • • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/-sel- noahwesley • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyjcase diamondduste • • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto http://www.flickr.com/photos/jphilipson Wednesday, March 4, 2009

http://www.slideshare.net	18
http://labs.friendsinteraction.com	5
http://www.killerblog.com	4
http://drupalgapps.techbracket.net	4
http://www.scoop.it	3
http://www.omaraviles.com	2
http://pomer.posterous.com	2
https://coderwall.com	1

Building Apis That Rock

by Jeff Eaton

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