REST API Notes for 2018/12/28
What a year 2018 has been! The wider world has been "turbulent" (which is probably putting it mildly). But in the API space, I continue to see strong growth and new adoption. That reality is reflected in this little newsletter's numbers:
- 43% YOY growth in subscribers
- 31 email newsletters published
- 21,571 words written
Highlighting impactful work by the API community has always been my priority. There's an endless sea of new things that busy folks are expected to find, understand, and apply to do their jobs. If my process of synthesizing copious amounts of data into a few pieces of relevant knowledge has been useful to others, then awesomesauce.
There's some big things immediately on the radar for 2019. That includes a review of the CA Academy book, "Continuous API Management", noteworthy selections that came out of APIDays Paris, and a few additional surprises that I'm almost ready to announce.
One change that I can share is that this is the last edition of the REST API Notes. When I started these notes in February, 2015, "REST" was a catch-all for any API communication happening over HTTP (even if it was being used incorrectly). It made sense to use the term for the newsletter that everybody else ("when in Rome...").
Fast forward four years later. Emerging API styles are still HTTP based. However, folks don't use the word REST; in fact, it is a point of differentiation for these tribes. At the same time, thought leadership remains the wild west. There is value in approaches like gRPC and GraphQL. However, straw-men and snake oil hawkers abound for pioneers looking to settle down and do business. New frontier. Same old problems.
That why a name change seems to be in order. In 2019, this rodeo is getting renamed from "REST API Notes" to "Web API Notes". REST (and REST-ish) APIs still remain a flexible way of organizing one's head-space around a problem domain. They aren't going to go anywhere and (I'd predict) will remain a majority of the content covered here. But the title more aptly reflects the growth of the API space and the topics worth covering.
As in 2018, I'll be taking the first several weeks in January off; its a slow point anyway, people are heads-down digging out from the holidays, etc. etc. etc. But, prior to the end of the month, be on the lookout for the newly renamed Web API Notes coming to an inbox and social media network near you.
NOTES
No notes this time. I hope everyone has had a healthy holidays thus far. Relax, recharge, and we'll dig deep into content next month.
In the meantime, here's a handful of milestones that were mildly interesting.
MILESTONES
- The Guardian migrated from MongoDB to Postgres. While largely about data, there's some nuggets within this thoughtful case study on a migration process via API. Worth checking out.
- GeoPlaces, a new API from Pitney Bowes, was announced. It includes "global retail and landmark points-of-interest". Coincidentally, Bing announced a similar API, promising "Local Insights" around the same time. I've got a soft spot for these types of APIs given projects I was involved with around 2012/2013. Having copious amounts of data is never the problem; the trick is showing the right data to the right people at the right time.
- Uh-oh. A Facebook photo API bug exposed up to 6.8 million user's photos (including unpublished ones) to app developers. The official Facebook account is online.
- AirBnB's has had a great set up posts on how they've created a service architecture. Part 3 was posted this month.
WRAPPING UP
I'm hiring a Principle Data Analyst for my team at Capital One. Our distributed systems architecture, driven by our 9000 developers, is growing at a steady clip. I'm looking for someone able to perform complex quantitative and qualitative analysis across our ecosystem. More importantly, this person will have a passion for using data to tell powerful stories.
The "official" rec has yet to be posted to the job site, but if you know of someone (or are interested yourself) I'd love to talk with you. Shoot me an email with a little about yourself and what you're looking to do, professionally, and let's see if there is a match.
Also, if you haven't already, check out Webapi.events. There's a number of new, 2019 events that I added this week. If something is missing just let me know; I'd be happy to add to it.
Finally, thank you to my Patreon sponsors. <Tiny Tim Voice>God bless each and 'ry one!</Tiny Tim Voice>
Till then, Matthew