The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition

Learn how to design web APIs that are a delight to use and maintain.

Thousands of developers have followed renowned API expert Arnaud Lauret’s guidance to create APIs that are flexible, secure, and easily integrated. This new edition of the bestselling The Design of Web APIs covers the latest updates to the OpenAPI standard, teaches you to streamline and standardize API design decisions with rationale and automation, and gives you insights you can apply to other API styles, such as gRPC. You’ll quickly see how a well-designed and properly-documented API gives your users autonomy—and saves you from constant explanations and hand-holding.

This fully revised second edition of The Design of Web APIs teaches you the principles and techniques you need to design easy-to-consume public and private web APIs. In it, you’ll learn how to:

• Analyze requirements to identify API capabilities for versatile, reusable designs
• Create HTTP-based REST APIs with CRUD, batch/bulk, or long operations
• Design interoperable, user-friendly APIs with seamless operations and data flow
• Ensure secure, efficient APIs while overcoming limitations and constraints
• Modify APIs without breaking compatibility, evaluating consequences carefully
• Future-proof your APIs and choose effective versioning strategies
• Document REST APIs using OpenAPI and JSON Schema for seamless implementation
• Streamline and standardize API design decisions with rationale and automation

The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition teaches vital skills for gathering requirements, balancing business and technical goals and constraints, and adopting a consumer-first mindset. Each chapter is packed full of hands-on examples, including designing an Online Shopping API and user-friendly banking operations, and over seventy exercises to help your new skills stick. Plus, you’ll explore paradigms applicable beyond REST APIs, and fully describe and document your APIs with OpenAPI and JSON Schema. Your web APIs will soon be easier to consume and your clients—internal and external—will be happier than ever!