Building your API utility belt (Keith Casey)
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The document discusses building an API utility belt by introducing several tools for working with APIs. It assumes the reader has a technical background and uses APIs regularly. Seven tools are described: Curl for making requests but with complexity; Postman for a point-and-click interface; BDD IRL for behavior-driven development testing; Fiddler as a local proxy for debugging; ApiTools for local or cloud-based logging and analysis; Stoplight.io for documentation generation and collaboration; and Runscope for monitoring, testing, and easy request sharing. Each tool is introduced with its background and common functionality.
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Building your API utility belt (Keith Casey)
- 1. BUILDING YOUR API UTILITY BELT D. KEITH CASEY, JR AUSTIN, TX KEITH@CLARIFY.IO @CASEYSOFTWARE
- 3. The API for Audio & Video Data
- 5. ASSUMPTIONS ! THE PROBLEMS THE STATUS QUO THE RIGHT TOOLS
- 6. Disclaimer Some of the tools and services covered here are open source, some are commercial products, and some are a blend of both. I have no vested interest in any of them though I know people at all of the companies involved. * Also, all pictures used without permission or attribution.
- 7. ASSUMPTIONS
- 8. Assumption: You have a technical background APIs are an important part of your job Use them on a regular basis Potentially build them too Sometimes public, sometimes private
- 9. Assumption: Nothing is perfect You make mistakes Your providers make mistakes That other team are knuckleheads
- 10. Assumption: You acknowledge the real Batman Ben Affleck Christian Bale George Clooney Val Kilmer Michael Keaton
- 11. Assumption: You acknowledge the real Batman Ben Affleck Christian Bale George Clooney Val Kilmer Michael Keaton
- 12. Assumption: You acknowledge the real Batman Ben Affleck Christian Bale George Clooney Val Kilmer Michael Keaton
- 13. TOOL 1: CURL
- 14. curl / libcurl Completely open source with tons of integrations Incredible power and flexibility Incredible complexitiy
- 15. Common curl Parameters -X specify an HTTP verb -d specify data fields, such as for a POST -I return/display all the included headers -H add extra/custom headers
- 16. Getting Started curl https://api.github.com curl -I https://api.github.com curl http://api.github.com/user/repos curl -u caseysoftware -X POST https://api.github.com/user/repos -d ‘{“name”:”monkey”}’
- 17. Full docs (35 pages!) http://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html
- 18. TOOL 2: POSTMAN
- 19. Background Started September 2013, raised $1MM May 2015 Over 1.5M users, 800k are active Chrome Plugin - free, but has paid extensions
- 20. Common Commands (there really aren’t any - point & click!)
- 21. Getting Started curl https://api.github.com curl -I https://api.github.com curl http://api.github.com/user/repos curl -u caseysoftware -X POST https://api.github.com/user/repos -d ‘{“name”:”monkey”}’
- 22. The Real Power
- 24. TOOL 3: BDD IRL
- 25. Background Different from Unit Testing in that we step outside the system and take the users’ point of view Tools in just about every language: Cucumber, Behave, Behat, etc Uses the Gherkin syntax Catch my talk “Is your API Misbehaving”
- 26. Our Syntax It’s English, but in the Gherkin syntax so this: As a [role] I want [feature] so that [benefit] becomes a feature called: Given [condition] when I [action] then [result]
- 27. An example
- 28. TOOL 4: FIDDLER
- 29. Background Created by Telerik, based on .Net (Mono) Serves as a local proxy, not a tool for requests, etc Free to use; some paid, some free extensions Geoedge - route traffic through 130 locations
- 30. Common Functionality Active Man In The Middle (MITM) Logging and Recording Traffic & Payload Analysis Manipulation Your logs are kept locally
- 34. TOOL 5: APITOOLS
- 35. Background Powered by 3Scale Serves as a proxy, not a tool for requests Web-based, only good for public APIs Local Debian (or Vagrant or Docker) - OSS
- 36. Common Functionality Active MITM FTW! Logging and Recording Traffic & Payload Analysis Manipulation Your logs are kept: In the cloud or locally, your choice!
- 38. Full docs https://docs.apitools.com/docs/ But seriously.. it’s really only 2 steps.
- 40. Background Started Dec 2014, still Beta but interesting Serves as: a proxy and documentation generator Web-based, primarily for public APIs Using ngrok, you can share localhost
- 41. Common Functionality Active MITM FTW! Logging and Recording Traffic & Payload Analysis Generates Documentation Heavy focus on collaboration & sharing
- 43. Full docs ???
- 44. TOOL 7: RUNSCOPE
- 45. Background Started Dec 2012, well-funded by a16z and others Serves as: a proxy, performance monitoring, unit test, usage tracking, API monitoring Web-based, primarily for public APIs Using Passageway, you can share localhost
- 46. Common Functionality Active MITM FTW! Logging and Recording Traffic & Payload Analysis Your logs are kept in the cloud Incredibly easy to share requests & callbacks
- 49. ASSUMPTIONS ! THE PROBLEMS THE STATUS QUO THE RIGHT TOOLS
- 52. BUILDING YOUR API UTILITY BELT D. KEITH CASEY, JR AUSTIN, TX KEITH@CLARIFY.IO @CASEYSOFTWARE