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Developer experience for API producer

An API in itself doesn't deliver value before it's consumed. The choices and actions the API producers make when creating the API have a strong correlation to the likelihood the API will deliver value to additional API consumers and evolve over time.

For internal APIs there are in general three typical starting points:

  1. API for connecting front-end and back-end of one system
  2. API for exposing data from one back-end system to another front-end system
  3. API for exposing data from one back-end system to another back-end system

A common scenario is that APIs start as 1. and then evolve over time to include to 2. and possibly 3. Each of these evolution typically have a significant fricition due:

  • Technical debt of using API in way it was not initially designed for
  • API initially specialized to snuggly fit the first consumer front-end
  • Different authentication methods
  • Creating a dependency between DevOps teams

To reduce this friction and realize potential value, it's essential to take into consideration future API consumers from the start.

Companies investing in digitalization programs, quickly see the first initiatives are using most of their effort on making data and functions available and not on combining them in novel new ways creating business growth. To achieve business agility, APIs must be the foundation layer already in place and ready to be used.