Essential REST API News for 2015/03/23

Once again it's that time to go to the API couch, sift through what's accumulated, and find the nuggets of value.

REVISITING SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE ASSUMPTIONS

"Mobile first" development gets all the love from product teams. But, as Jennifer Riggins correctly points out, this architectural approach is actually "Backend-as-a-Service", or BaaS. She begins by illustrating the problem and then goes on to describe the benefits of this particular solution. Developing for an increasing number of platforms requires an increased sophistication of API implementation. This is one way to address that.

FILLING OUT THE HYPERMEDIA MATURITY MODEL

Hypermedia is conceptually fantastic. But it can be daunting for new explorers. Arnaud Lauret, an IT architect in France, does an admirable job defining why hypermedia is such a powerful, yet overlooked, aspect for API development (Part 1 and Part 2). Using Richardson's Hypermedia Maturity Model he demonstrates how we might attempt to wring the best from REST.

ANTICIPATING NEW API OPPORTUNITIES

The "API Economy" is a phrase that, depending on who you ask, either accurately describes the sea-change in software architecture or is a painfully overblown buzzword. Companies that sell an API as their principle product - places like Twilio, Stripe, and SendGrind - have enjoyed tremendous success as the economy has flourished. Zak Schwarzman, writing on Medium, defines an additional emerging opportunity: the Vertical API company. He outlines what makes a vertical API company, list criteria for success, and points out the various challenges. This is a great read for companies considering how to transform their backend datastores into digital assets.

UPCOMING NOTABLES

A special congratulations goes out to the API services vendor, Apigee. Last week they filed an IPO; it is another example of how the larger world is beginning to value APIs (and the companies providing tooling for them).

Thanks for reading. Until next time,

• Matthew