Learning API Styles

Foreword

A software system is not just the definition of its parts but how those parts communicate. The quality of that communication is a huge factor in the system’s overall performance. Your communication methods, such as APIs, need to be thoughtfully constructed and governed, built on strong foundations.

This is where Learning API Styles comes in. Not only is the content of the book immensely valuable, the way it is structured enables easy and efficient learning.

Learning API Styles starts with important foundational knowledge, an appreciation of API concepts (Chapter 1), including the API lifecycle. Chapter 2, on API design patterns, should be a prerequisite for anyone involved in the design and implementation of any API. Network protocols (Chapter 3) are then built upon with explanations of web protocols (Chapter 4), before introducing the API styles (beginning in Chapter 5) which are based on those protocols.

A hugely important concept for APIs runs throughout this book: security. Lukasz and Marcin say in Chapter 1 that “We perceive security as a force that is present in all phases of the API lifecycle,” and I couldn’t agree more. An API without security, considered at every stage, provides an easy and tempting target for bad actors.

Look at the news, and you’ll see a state government that has allowed anyone access to personal documents, just by knowing a phone number. APIs are the gateways through which numerous businesses lose important data. Carefully designed and implemented ...