Design and Build Great Web APIs

Chapter 12Modifying APIs

Things seems to be at a happy end. We’ve designed, built, and deployed our API into production and, thanks to a solid and well-executed design experience and a solid build process, our API is not languishing on some list of available services; it has active signups and is frequently used. That’s great! However, now that the API is in heavy rotation in several parts of our fictional company, BigCo, Inc., a new problem has emerged.

We’re getting requests for added features.

One of the challenges of a successful API is that people start thinking of new and creative ways to use it. And that almost always results in requests for modifications. Modifying the API is actually an important part of the overall lifecycle. In ...