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RubyConf 2018 - Yes, You Should Provide a Client Library For Your API by Daniel Azuma Congratulations! You’ve launched a RESTful JSON-based API, and now anyone can call your service by making HTTP requests. But is that enough? While HTTP-REST by itself can enable access to your service, an API client library can provide significant benefits in safety, security, readability, and ease of use. In this session, you’ll learn API client design patterns and best practices honed from releasing hundreds of APIs at Google, and you’ll discover tools that can take the tedium out of building, testing, and documenting your API clients for Ruby, and across other languages.
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In the talk titled "Yes, You Should Provide a Client Library For Your API," presented by Daniel Azuma at RubyConf 2018, the importance of providing an API client library for RESTful JSON-based APIs is discussed. Azuma explains that while creating an API allows for access via HTTP requests, a dedicated client library can significantly enhance the user experience through improved safety, security, readability, and ease of use. Key points from the presentation include: - **Understanding API Client Libraries**: An API client library serves as an interface, simplifying the interaction with an API by allowing users to call methods instead of constructing HTTP requests directly. This creates a more intuitive developer experience. - **The Challenges of API Development**: Effective API design involves complexities such as resource mapping, naming conventions, versioning, and error handling. Azuma shares experiences from his career, noting the time lost due to confusion in API usage between different teams, emphasizing that well-designed APIs are crucial for productivity. - **Benefits of a Client Library**: Client libraries abstract intricate details such as authentication, retries, and session management, allowing developers to focus on higher-level logic without wrestling with lower-level networking concerns. - **Best Practices for Client Libraries**: - Leverage Ruby's unique features and types to create a familiar interface for Ruby developers. - Implement robust error handling to manage common issues like quota errors and session expiration. - Ensure security by incorporating input validation and encryption seamlessly into the library. - Provide performance optimizations through caching and efficient data handling. - **Automation in Client Library Generation**: Azuma discusses utilizing Interface Description Languages (IDLs) like OpenAPI to automate the generation of client libraries, thereby maintaining consistency and reducing the maintenance burden. Google employs similar strategies with tools like protocol buffers and gRPC. In conclusion, Daniel Azuma advocates for the creation of client libraries as they play a vital role in easing developer workflows and enhancing overall API usability. He stresses that even organizations with numerous APIs should prioritize user experience by investing in well-documented and automated client library generation.
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