Designing Web API’s

Presented by Murukesh Jayaraj

Agenda

• API Management• API Design & Development

API MANAGEMENTSection - 1

Expanding Reach

Integrated & Enabled

by API Economy

Cloud services are exposed via API

Most of your back end services of Mobile Apps are exposed via APIs

Many popular web apps are already consumers of API

Big Data provide insights that are shared and monetized via APIs

Social Media have already established new business models via API

Types of API

Private APIs are used internally to facilitate the integration of different applications and systems used by a company.

Advantages:• Increased flexibility• Improved integration• Reduced costs

Public APIs allow companies to publicly expose information and functionalities of one or various systems & applications to third parties that do not necessarily have a business relationship with them.

Advantages:• Delegated R&D• Increased reach,

traffic• New revenue stream

Private / Internal Partner Public / External

Partner APIs are used to facilitate communication and integration of software between a company and its business partners.

Advantages:• Value-added service• Increased sales• Must have for

business partners

New Business Opportunities

Business Models are evolving

APIs are path to new business opportunities

APIs provide a new fast growing channel of opportunity

API Business Model

Design is a critical consideration

A well-designed system can present a simple and intuitive interface to what often are complex inner workings. The external view of your enterprise must work the same way.

API Design• Design from the users

perspective. Understand the target market and how APIs will be consumed

• Simplicity is key. Limit coding. Manage the information, not the code

• Keep measurement in mind. Strong analytics is a must with any API

Secure

Protect Against Attacks• Buffer Overruns• Denial of Service• Malformed Data

Throttle Traffic

Enforce Quotas• Based on agreements• Based on priorities

Entitlement Based Usage

Entitlements are required to meter and administer proper service levels

• Limit based on number of call request

• Per period of time

• Specify requirements for App Key, and Secrets

API Management

At a high level, an API management solution needs to include a,

• Developer Portal for developers to discover APIs, understand usage and sign up for access

• API Gateway that secures and mediates the traffic between your APIs and its consumers

• API Lifecycle Management to manage the process of designing, developing, deploying, versioning and retiring APIs

Monetization Models

Business Case

“The true benefit of an open API is that the

world’s best developers can create new

applications from your core service and data”

API’s must be marketed & developers are your

customer

• Expedia is a great example of the open API at work

• Runs an affiliate network of about 10,000 partners

• Allows all of their partners to localize and personalize their core data.– E.g. India-based affiliate could

provide them with much better information about the facilities in and around the hotels in that area

• 3,600 active API partners as of 2012

• $2 billion in sales

Few Blockbusters

• Salesforce.com generates 50% of its revenue through APIs

• Expedia.com generates 90%, and eBay 60%.

• Google maps popularity skyrocketed only because of its API based integration & access

• Twitter in its early days, its user interface was not good enough for regular users. As a result it didn’t pickup for a while.

• TweekDeck, a third-party developer, built a better user interface on top of the Twitter engine &

“Twitter usage exploded”

• Twitter acquired TweetDeck in 2011.

API DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

Section - 2

Available as a separate presentation.Refer - Web API’s using REST

Thank You