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‘The API’ book by Sergey Konstantinov
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README.md

The API Book

This is the working repository for ‘The API’ book written by Sergey Konstantinov (email, Linkedin profile).

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. In Section I, we'll discuss designing APIs as a concept: how to build the architecture properly, from high-level planning down to final interfaces. Section II is dedicated to expanding existing APIs in a backwards-compatible manner.

You may find .html, .epub or .pdf version of the book in the docs folder, or read it online.

You might support this work on Patreon. Also, the Kindle version (priced at 6$) exists, though I have to warn you that its formatting suffers because of Amazon epub conversion oddities.

Pre-compiled books above comprise clean-copy texts only. Drafts could be found in the src folder. Complete new chapter drafts will be published on:

  • my medium blog in English;
  • my habr blog in Russian.

I'd appreciate if you share them on reddit, for I personally can't do that: reddit bans me for ‘self-promotion’.

The work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license, meaning in general that you're totally free to use this book in any manner while complying with two rules:

  • you're not getting commercial profit from the book;
  • you're not forgetting to mention the author properly.

See full license in LICENSE.md file or at Creative Commons Website.

Current State and the Roadmap

Right now Section I (‘API Design’) and Section II (‘Backwards Compatibility’) are finished. The Sections are lacking readable schemes, I'll draw them later.

Section III ‘API as a Product’ will be discussing non-technical issues

  • what for the APIs exist;
  • monetizing APIs;
  • making sure you understand users' needs and collect proper metrics;
  • common practices, including AA issues and fraud problems;
  • organizing docs portal;
  • open source and community.

I also have more distant plans on adding two more subsections to Section I.

  • Section Ia ‘JSON HTTP APIs’:
    • the REST myth;
    • following HTTP spec, including those parts where you should not follow the spec;
    • best practices;
  • Section Ib ‘SDK Design’ covering more tricky issues of having proving UI alongside the API (no specific plan right now)

Translation

I am translating new chapters into English at the moment they're ready. I'm not a native speaker, so feel free to correct my grammar.

Contributing

I am accepting inquiries. Feel free to open issues.

I am NOT accepting pull requests introducing any new content, since I'm willing to be the only author. I would gratefully accept typo fixes, though.

Thanks art.mari.ka for the illustration & inspiration.

Thanks Ilya Subbotin for the valuable feedback.

Thanks @tholman for https://github.com/tholman/github-corners.

Thanks Ira Gorelik for the Aqueduct.

Thanks ParaType for PT Sans and PT Serif.

Thanks Christian Robertson for Roboto Mono.