This document discusses the importance of software development kits (SDKs) and how to create a great developer experience through SDKs. It recommends that API providers create their own SDKs instead of relying on community-created SDKs, which can be scattered and lead to bugs appearing in support channels. It provides tips for SDK development, such as writing documentation first, including troubleshooting guides, helping developers navigate dependencies, making SDKs feel native to languages, and using common data structures across languages. Tracking SDK usage is also recommended to learn how developers are using the APIs and SDKs.

1. CREATING A GREAT
DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
THROUGH SDKS

2. Developer Evangelist at Keen IO
taylor@keen.io
@taylor_atx
TAYLOR BARNETT

3. @taylor_atx

4. Collect & store data from
users, websites, apps &
smart devices.
Query instantly to share
results with teams &
customers, anywhere.
@taylor_atx

5. LET’S BE REAL ABOUT SDKS
@taylor_atx

6. Most API providers aren’t updating
their SDKs enough
😞
@taylor_atx

7. Get the most attention when they are 🔥broken🔥
@taylor_atx

8. Many of SDKs are now open source,
which is great, but…
@taylor_atx

9. There are a lot of great HTTP request
libraries out there now
🎉
@taylor_atx

10. We could talk for a really long time
about why using SDKs aren’t great
@taylor_atx

11. WHY SHOULD YOU
PROVIDE SDKS?
@taylor_atx

12. Most of the time using an API is
important, but peripheral to why the
software is being written
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13. Your SDKs are your API
@taylor_atx

14. SDKs give quick feedback on how your
API works
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15. There’s a business case for putting
resources into SDKs
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16. OTHER REASONS
• When there’s no good built in HTTP request library
• Error handling
• Building clients with 100% API coverage
• Helping users with authentication
• Best practices with complex APIs
@taylor_atx

17. CREATING A GREAT
DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
@taylor_atx

18. PRODUCT VS COMMUNITY SDKS
• Clearly define the two to set better expectations
• If you don’t build them, Community SDKs will appear
• Leads to a scattered developer experience
• Community SDK bugs will appear in your Support channels
@taylor_atx

19. DOCUMENTATION
• Write the SDK documentation first
• Consistency
• Helps evaluate the experience
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20. DOCUMENTATION
• Include sections for
• Troubleshooting, with common errors and issues users run
into —> Your Support team will love you for this
• Changelog or release notes
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21. SCARY WORLD OF DEPENDENCIES
• Help your users navigate it
• Users need to know changes between SDK versions
• Survey your options
😱
@taylor_atx

22. DANGERS OF NOT MAKING YOUR OWN SDKS
• Not eating your own dog food is dangerous
• Helps you understand the cost of building with your own API
• It’s also encouragement to add new API features into your
SDK when they released, not later
@taylor_atx

23. NATIVE AS POSSIBLE
• Please do not auto generate SDKs badly from your API
• Example: Go find a Go developer to write your Go SDK
• Start with the languages that are the most popular for your
target audience and that your team is familiar with
@taylor_atx

24. COMMON DATA STRUCTURES
• Avoid inconsistency in your users’ code
• Example: JSON is a great option for representing data
• Want to map well to data structures in many different
languages
@taylor_atx

25. USAGE TRACKING
• Great opportunity to learn about your users
• Critical statistics for developing, maintaining, and improving
your SDKs
• Every popular API company today is tracking this: SendGrid,
Twilio, Stripe, Dropbox, etc.
@taylor_atx
📊

26. # Example from the Twilio Python module
# https://github.com/twilio/twilio-python
user_agent = "twilio-python %s (python-%s)" % (
LIBRARY_VERSION,
platform.python_version(),
)
headers = {
"User-Agent": user_agent,
"Accept-Charset": "utf-8",
}
USAGE TRACKING
@taylor_atx

27. EXAMPLES
@taylor_atx

35. 💖
THANK YOU!
taylor@keen.io
@taylor_atx