There are methods to improve API design — like following RESTful practices. But time and again we are seeing customers unknowingly program minor inconveniences into their APIs. To help you avoid these pitfalls, here are six of the most common mistakes we have seen developers make while creating the API — and guidance on how to get it right. By Varun Krovvidi,Geir Sjurseth.
Practices for REST APIs mentioned in the article:
- Thinking inside-out vs outside-in
- Making your APIs too complex for users
- Creating “chatty” APIs with too many calls
- Not allowing for flexibility
- Making design unreadable to humans
- Know when you can break the RESTful rules
Being true to the RESTful basics — such as using the correct HTTP verbs, status codes, and stateless resource-based interfaces — can make your customers’ lives easier because they don’t need to learn an all new lexicon, but remember that the goal is just to help them get their job done. If you put RESTful design first over user experience, then it doesn’t really serve its purpose. Nice one!
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