..is something that the non technical managers and entrepreneurs say under their breath at least once a month.
✳️ But... Can you blame them?
API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface. If a sharp generalist thought that the full form would help them understand, they're in for a rude shock.
Only after minutes (or hours if you're not good at Googling), would they come to the realization that an API is basically the communicating link between two different software (components).
Jokes aside, APIs are the backbone of the highly interconnected world we live in. Again, for the non devs, when your banking mobile app shows you your account balance, it is because of APIs. Your Hacker Noon stats page says that 1000 people read your stories - say thanks to APIs.
Whether you're using a no-code solution like Zapier to have your lead generation forms show up in your slack channel or, integrating your Node.js backend software with the Ethereum Blockchain, it's all courtesy of APIs.
✳️ Or, Blame the Product Team?
Now, over to the devs. Building APIs is not easy. It's messy and it has kept you away from your families a ton of times. How a Product team intern attempting to display a themed banner for Halloween somehow manages to break your API calls is beyond you.
But you’ve come to accept it as a fact of your life that product updates will send you back to the drawing board - no matter how many product meetings you attend or how many chickens you sacrifice.
You document your APIs hard but somebody will someday misinterpret something as clear as day. So, you go back and start adding in images too. Should you use GIFs? They’re images too. Right? What if somebody prints out that documentation? The GIFs will break. Should I go with multiple images, you wonder? And it goes on and on…
✳️ Sadly, Sometimes, It is Your Fault too
You knew this was coming. Didn’t you?
Sometimes, your API requires too many requests for fairly mundane tasks. You know it but you’re gonna keep quiet because you don’t want to keep going back to the drawing board, create new documentation, and practically re-train that intern who, you secretly believe is on a mission to break your APIs.
✳️ And, The Challenges Only Get Bigger
Now, let’s go out of the office and think a little bigger. Your API is being used by thousands of developers worldwide. What are their pain-points? What are the features that they love? How’s that intern using your API? Will your documentation withstand language barriers?
You start tinkering with API analytics and come across various testing platforms to test out the ruggedness of your API. Unfortunately, most of these are simple synthetic tests and do not provide real insights into your true customer actions. You want real-world analytics. Based on YOUR customers’ data and insights to actual developer conversions and retention.
If this is you, this newsletter’s sponsor - Moesif wants to step in and help you understand YOUR API Adoption and Usage. From API log analysis to custom dashboards, they’ve got you covered and want you to check them out.
✳️ But APIs are Here to Stay
The interconnectedness of the world is only going to increase (despite what isolationist Governments tell you) and API usage is bound to sky-rocket. It is therefore essential to build APIs with scalability and usability as the central tenets.
Analytics comes a bit later when you’ve found your first 100 customers (or want to be ready for them from Day 1).
Check out what Hacker Noon contributors think about APIs and how they built their own, built awesome SaaS solutions, or found a simpler authentication mechanism than what you’re currently using.
