My short talk on problems designing and building successful APIs, presented first at API Strategy Conference in New York

1. THE ART OF BUILDING APIS
Jakub Nesetril
founder & CEO of Apiary

2. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
There is no simple way to
solve API design.
Different groups of
developers has different
needs, usecases and
workflows.

3. ART, NOT ROUTINE
API is and interface. In 2000’s,
we thought it was machine-
machine interface. But in
2010’s, we know that it’s the
interface to the developer
behind the machine. Thus,
building APIs is a lot like
building UIs.

4. UI design is dominated
by user-centered design.
It involves the user into
design workflow as soon
as possible, often using
wireframes.

5. But API design is still
largely a waterfall
approach - design-build-
document everything
upfront. Only then
involve the user.

6. Mock > Use > Implement
Using a mock server
allows to change the
workflow: produce a
wireframe quickly, then
involve the customer.
Implement once the
apiary.io
design is finalized.

7. Mock > Use > Implement
Using a mock server
allows to change the
workflow: produce a
wireframe quickly, then
involve the customer.
Implement once the
apiary.io
design is finalized.

8. API BLUEPRINT
HOST: http://api.twitter.com/
Apiary.io has a quick
--- Twitter API 3.0 --- tool for describing APIs
--- using a very light-weight
DSL called API
Welcome to our API. Comments support Markdown syntax
Blueprint.
---
-- Retrieve Tweets --
GET /tweets
> Accept: application/json
< 200
< Content-Type: application/json
{ "items": [
{ "url": "/feed", "range":"2ZY48XPZ", "quantity": 1, "name": "New
socks", "price": 1.25 }
] }

9. Mock > Use > Implement
Using this more
structured approach
gives you more benefits
at once. Once you finish
designing, your
documentation and test
suite are in sync.
Testing Documentation
apiary.io

10. TESLA MODEL S
Among other APIs
that were
documented in
Apiary was Tesla
Model S.

11. apiary.io
E-MAIL jakub@apiary.io TWITTER @apiaryio

12. PHOTO CREDITS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4308675209/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30030574@N03/3633431964/