INTERFACE, by apidays 2021 - It’s APIs all the way down June 30, July 1 & 2, 2021 API First mentality Tanya Vlahovic, Head of Developer Platform at eBay

1. {
API-First
Mentality
}
{ Tanya Vlahovic }
{ Head of Developer Ecosystem, eBay }
{ June 30, 2021 }

2. Connecting Businesses, People, and Things
Consumers Applications &
experiences
Developers APIs API teams Internal
microservices
Data

3. Agenda
API Is a Product
API Design
Feedback

4. API Is a Product
First-class products
Built by developers for developers

5. API - First
APIs are the focal point of making
products
Strategy that business stakeholders
should support

6. Interface Design
Method: IDM
Understand the customer problem and
design around that
Do not expose internal implementation
details in your interface
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” -
Leonardo Da Vinci

7. Actor Use case Constraints
Seller Seller creates a return
policy where the policy
encapsulates seller's
terms for returning
items.
The returns policy can support both domestic and
international transactions. eBay marketplace policies define
categories that require sellers to supply a return policy for the
marketplace(s) into which they list.
Policy instructions can be localized.
Seller-defined description of the return policy is optional and it
is not displayed to end users.
IDM: Use Cases

8. Currently supported
Future extension
Reference to an external model
IDM: Entity Relationships Diagram

9. {
"returnPolicyId": "string",
"returnsAccepted": "boolean",
"returnShippingCostPayer": "string",
"marketplaceId": "string",
"name": "string",
"description": "string",
"refundMethod": "string",
"returnInstructions": "string",
"returnMethod": "string",
. . .
}
Resource Representation HTTP Request
POST sell/account/v1/return_policy
Authorization (OAuth 2.0 scope)
https://api.ebay.com/oauth/api_scope/
sell.account
IDM: Resources, Methods, and Authorization

10. Consistency
Patterns
Cross-cutting concerns
Vocabulary

11. Define “the good citizen” API
Objective, transparent, and
manageable process
Enabler rather than a gate
Focus on the “what” part vs. the
“how” part
Governance

12. Developer Experience: OpenAPI Spec
Vendor-neutral
Human-readable
Machine-readable
Streamlines integration
with APIs

13. Developer Experience: AsyncAPI Spec
Vendor-neutral
Human-readable
Machine-readable
Standard for defining
asynchronous APIs

14. Feedback Loop
Feedback from customers helps to shape
strategies and roadmaps
"When you know better, you do better." -
Maya Angelou

15. Direct Indirect
Feedback
Analyze the API usage
Measure the outcomes
Solicit feedback early and often
Focus on trusted developers

16. Continuous
Architecture
Treat APIs as products
Keep enhancing them
"The only thing that is constant is
change." - Heraclitus

17. Thank you
Tanya Vlahovic
Head of Developer Ecosystem, eBay
tvlahovic@ebay.com
Twitter: @latestFromTV