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One of the greatest challenges to developing an API is ensuring that your API lasts. After all, you don't want to have to release and manage multiple versions of your API just because you weren't expecting users to use it a certain way, or because you didn't anticipate far enough down the roadmap. In this session we'll talk about the challenge of API Longevity, as well as ways to increase your API lifecycle including having a proper mindset, careful design, agile user experience and prototyping, best design practices including hypermedia, and the challenge of maintaining persistence. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/Fp8i/
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The video "Building Your API for Longevity," presented by Mike Stowe at RubyConf 2014, addresses the essential strategies for creating APIs that endure through time. Stowe emphasizes that developing a long-lasting API is not merely about coding but involves thoughtful planning and design. Here are the key points discussed in the video: - **API Longevity Challenges**: Stowe acknowledges the common difficulties experienced with APIs, including frequent breaking changes and backward compatibility issues. These challenges highlight why planning for the long term is vital. - **Adopting a Long-Term Mindset**: It's important to plan for the future instead of just reacting to immediate needs. Understanding the purpose and the audience for the API is essential. - **Spec-Driven Development**: Stowe promotes creating a clear specification before coding. This ensures a standardized design approach that facilitates collaboration and consistency among developers. - **Understanding Users**: Developers should engage with end-users throughout the API development process to ensure that the API meets their needs. A failure to do so can lead to wasted resources. - **Backward Compatibility**: Breaking existing contracts with API users incurs a cost and can hinder developer trust. Developers need to avoid making incompatible changes unless absolutely necessary. - **Consideration of Future Needs**: APIs should be designed with future requirements in mind. Stowe warns against focusing too heavily on current needs without anticipating future evolutions. - **Versioning Strategy**: API versioning should be utilized only when essential changes occur that break backward compatibility. Over-relying on versioning complicates API management and risks developer confusion. - **Feedback Loop**: Prototyping and gathering user feedback are crucial before launching an API, as these steps help prevent inconsistencies that could lead to a lack of adoption. - **Best Practices**: The talk concludes with a call to adopt best practices and to build APIs that are flexible and adaptable to change. It’s critical that developers think about long-term impacts while implementing short-term solutions. The main takeaway from Stowe's presentation is that careful planning and a focus on user needs are key to developing APIs that remain valuable over time. Creating a successful API is about more than just coding; it's about building a reliable contract with users that endures through changes and developments in technology.
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