Designing APIs is a very special skill: API is a multiplier to both your opportunities and mistakes. This book is written to share the expertise and describe the best practices in the API design and API product management.

You might download ‘The API’ in PDF or EPUB format, or read it online.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Chapter 1. On the Structure of This Book
  • Chapter 2. The API Definition
  • Chapter 3. API Quality Criteria
  • Chapter 4. Backwards Compatibility
  • Chapter 5. On Versioning
  • Chapter 6. Terms and Notation Keys
• Section I. The API Design
  • Chapter 7. The API Contexts Pyramid
  • Chapter 8. Defining an Application Field
  • Chapter 9. Separating Abstraction Levels
  • Chapter 10. Isolating Responsibility Areas
  • Chapter 11. Describing Final Interfaces
  • Chapter 12. Annex to Section I. Generic API Example
• Section II. The Backwards Compatibility
  • Chapter 13. The Backwards Compatibility Problem Statement
  • Chapter 14. On the Iceberg's Waterline
  • Chapter 15. Extending through Abstracting
  • Chapter 16. Strong Coupling and Related Problems
  • Chapter 17. Weak Coupling
  • Chapter 18. Interfaces as a Universal Pattern
  • Chapter 19. The Serenity Notepad
• Section III. The API Product
  • Chapter 20. API as a Product
  • Chapter 21. API Business Models
  • Chapter 22. Developing a Product Vision
  • Chapter 23. Communicating with Developers
  • Chapter 24. Communicating with Business Owners
  • Chapter 25. API Services Range
  • Chapter 26. API KPIs
  • Chapter 27. Identifying Users
  • Chapter 28. Anti-fraud and IT-security
  • Chapter 29. Supporting API users
  • Chapter 30. Documentation
  • Chapter 31. Testing Environment
  • Chapter 32. Managing Expectations

The book is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. The source code is available on Github. Illustration & inspiration by art.mari.ka.

Также доступна русская версия.