At APIDays Paris 2015, Jonathan Michaux presented about public and private Web APIs, going through their differences and challenges.

1. 1

2. The February 2015 blogging battle
If it has an http:// in front of the address,
it is a public API—sorry
2
Kin Lane

3. If it has an http:// in front of the address,
it is a public API—sorry
3
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation [...] It's about the target developerKin Lane
David Berlind
ProgrammableWeb
The February 2015 blogging battle

4. If it has an http:// in front of the address,
it is a public API—sorry
4
"If it has an http:// in front of the
address, it is a public API—sorry.”,
which is total bullshit
Kin Lane
Kin Lane
David Berlind
ProgrammableWeb
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation [...] It's about the target developer
The February 2015 blogging battle

5. If it has an http:// in front of the address,
it is a public API—sorry
5
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation” “It's About The Target Developer
I believe there are two axes which can
be considered: internal vs external,
open vs registration vs dark
Kin Lane
Kin Lane
David Berlind
ProgrammableWeb
Mark O’Neill
Axway
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation [...] It's about the target developer
The February 2015 blogging battle
"If it has an http:// in front of the
address, it is a public API—sorry.”,
which is total bullshit

6. If it has an http:// in front of the address,
it is a public API—sorry
6
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation” “It's About The Target Developer
I believe there are two axes which can
be considered: internal vs external,
open vs registration vs dark
[...] the point of internal or private APIs is that
they are building blocks that can be re-used.
Eventually someone is going to want to reuse
[an internal API] with an external entity
Kin Lane
Kin Lane
David Berlind
ProgrammableWeb
Mark O’Neill
Axway
Steven Willmott
3Scale
The nomenclature of "public APIs" vs. "private
APIs" are, in fact, a critical part of the
conversation [...] It's about the target developer
The February 2015 blogging battle
"If it has an http:// in front of the
address, it is a public API—sorry.”,
which is total bullshit

7. Part I - API categories
7

8. public
private
external internal
partner
consumer provider
developer
designer operator
8

9. 9
“the API provider (that is, the team that produces and maintains the API) has a very
different set of concerns than API consumers (that is, internal and/or external developers,
UI teams and partners [...]”
Daniel Jacobson (Netflix)

10. Private APIs
10
“There is a common misconception that
an API is something that everyone can
consume”
Travis Spencer (Nordic APIs)
“While public programs often get more attention,
the vast majority of API traffic is actually generated
through private programs.”
Mark Loewenstein (Mashery)
“Internal use may be the biggest API use
case of all.”
John Musser (ProgrammableWeb)

11. Private APIs
apiacademy.co 11

12. Public APIs
apiacademy.co 12

13. Public APIs produce management overhead
13
“You need a status page”
Donn Felker

14. 14
“It’s hard to deny the coming change toward open data”
Jason Harmon
(Paypal)

15. Partner APIs
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PubReviews.com
LuxuryHotels.com
marketing & dev
teams
Easily locate the best pubs within a 2km radius of your
hotel !
ORGANIsATIONAL
BOUNDARY

16. Part 2 - Practical examples
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17. Partypedia Nantes
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Discover music events in Nantes

18. 18

19. Partypedia Nantes - Built with APISpark
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20. Partypedia Nantes: private or public API ?
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develops

21. Let’s turn Nantes music event data into a public API !
21
3rd-party
developers

22. Impacts of building the Partypedia public API
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Documentation

23. Impacts of building the Partypedia public API
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Documentation Security

24. Impacts of building the Partypedia public API
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Documentation Security Monitoring

25. Let’s see what this would look like using APISpark
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26. The big picture
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music
event
data
private
mobile API
partner API
public API
Partypedia
mobile app
Event
organisers
Third party
developers

27. Wrapping up
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28. References
● You need a status page, Donn Felker, http://bit.ly/1ObKR4D
● I like to be able to verify a developer is real …, Kin Lane, http://bit.ly/1TOFop7
● In the future there will be no public vs private APIs, Kin Lane, http://bit.ly/1Dt0vXQ
● Long live the private API, David Berlind, http://bit.ly/1KCP9AG
● How seperation of concerns can benefit your API…, Daniel Jacobson, http://bit.ly/1NCyWvX
● When you are ready for a nuanced discussion…, Kin Lane, http://bit.ly/1NCzkuq
● Categorizing APIs, Mark O’Neill, http://bit.ly/1m5mKxW
● Public vs Private vs Internal APIs, Steven Willmott, http://bit.ly/1INDfDI
● Private APIs vs Open APIs, API Academy, http://bit.ly/1INHXRY
● Public vs Private: which API program…, Loewenstein, http://bit.ly/1Q8XFPf
● Private Partner or Public…, Mark Boyd, http://bit.ly/1Nch0cn
● The myth of the private API, George Reese, http://oreil.ly/1NzzJCg
● How we built partypedia, J.Michaux & P.Reliquet, http://bit.ly/1XQuu81
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29. thanks
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