As the number of public APIs available to developers skyrockets, developers are increasingly asked to evaluate dozens of API providers based on their market opportunity, ease of integration and stability of service - then choose a winner to integrate with. You can quickly communicate that your company is interested in providing opportunity to developers by managing your API like a protocol. Discover why good versioning practices, incorporating developer input, participating in developer meetups and hackathons, and adopting existing standards whenever possible makes good business sense for both API developers and API providers.

1. Manage your Public API Like a
Protocol
Delyn Simons
VP Developer Platform, Mashery
@delynator @mashery #df12 #devzone

2. What we hear from businesses
“We need to speed up our product development cycle.”
“Our stock price is half what it was 10 years ago.”
“How can we jumpstart innovation throughout the company?”
“My CEO wants us to have an iPad app by the next board meeting.”
“We are having a difficult time recruiting engineers.”

3. What we hear from developers
• “Documentation and examples. Give me those, keep them up to date and I'm
happy.”
• “Version *every* change to your API, and version your docs the same way,
so I always know which functionality I'm getting, and what it's really supposed
to do.”
• “Keep your documentation up to date and in all reasonable instances provide
a fucking library for common languages that has real production-ready code
instead of some bullshit an intern wrote in an afternoon for a demo.”
• Credit: YourTrove Hacker News Developer Survey, August 2011

4. Open APIs: Growth is accelerating
4 months
ProgrammableWeb API directory
7000 APIs and 6 months
9 months
18 months
8 years
Total APIs Over Time

5. Slide Courtesy of ProgrammableWeb

6. Slide Courtesy of ProgrammableWeb

11. How did we get here?

13. Think like a Product Think like a Platform
Device-centric Services-centric
OS Cloud
Hardware Content
Download Stream
Wired Magazine, Dec 2011

14. Developers change the game

15. Protocol: Communications
Definition: A system of digital message formats and rules for
exchanging those messages in or between computing systems. A
protocol definition defines the syntax, semantics, and synchronization
of communication.
Examples: HTTP, FTP, TCP/IP, POP3, OAuth, OData, Atom/RSS,
PubSubHubBub, OpenSocial
Credit: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

16. Protocol: Diplomacy
Definition: a set of rules which guides how an activity should be
performed and based on the principles of civility. These well-
established and time-honored rules have made it easier for nations
and people to live and work together.
Examples: Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, US State Dept.
Office of the Chief of Protocol, United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.
Credit: International Association of Protocol Consultants and Officers.

17. The promise of a great API platform

18. … but unilaterally managed APIs often break the cycle

19. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Developer Products are Products, too
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

21. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Developer Products are Products, too.
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

24. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Developer Products are Products, too.
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

28. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Developer Products are Products, too.
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

31. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Developer Products are Products, too.
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

33. Manage your API like a Protocol
Generous Terms of Service
Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples
5 minutes > first API call
Release Products You are Proud of
Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

34. Deliver on the promise of a great API platform

35. Treat your developers like stakeholders
Photo Credit: flickr.com/techcrunch

36. Thank you!
Your feedback is a gift.
Delyn Simons
@delynator, @mashery
#df12 #devzone
September 2012