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API Primer_ Core Concepts in API Strategy and Architecture

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API Primer: Core Concepts in API


Strategy and Architecture
TRGoodwill · Follow
Published in API Central · 7 min read · Oct 27, 2023

57 1

Aligning on API Concepts


When talking API strategy, architecture and management concepts with IT
and business leaders, it is good to have have everyone on the same page. The
following is a short primer on several important API concepts that are likely
to come up when discussing an API strategy and roadmap. This discussion
will briefly cover:

API

REST

API-First, API-as-a-Product

Design-First & OpenAPI

API Gateway

API Management

API Management Framework


API Portal and API Catalog

API Ecosystem

API Governance

First Things First: What is an API?


An Application Program Interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and
tools allowing software applications to communicate with one another. An
application Program Interface (API) allows software to offer services or data
for use by another application.

An API specification describes an application programming interface,


making it easier for client application developers to build an integration with
the service offering the API

‘API’ is a broad term covering a number of integration technologies. The


baseline concepts usually associated with the term ‘API’ in connection with
enterprise API strategies today are:

Native HTTP methods and protocols

REST (Representational State Transfer) — an HTTP-based, resource-


oriented API paradigm
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) — as the preferred (but not exclusive)
data interchange format

However, an API strategy may evolve to embrace complimentary API


technologies and architectures.

The REST Architectural Style & Microservices


REST (an acronym for “REpresentational State Transfer”) is a resource-
oriented architectural style that;

“provides a set of architectural constraints that, when applied as a whole,


emphasizes scalability of component interactions, generality of interfaces,
independent deployment of components” — Fielding, R.T. 2000,
Representational State Transfer (REST)

Similarly, microservices architecture is an architectural style that


emphasizes independently deployable, loosely coupled services organized
around business capabilities and resources.
“Applications built from microservices aim to be as decoupled and as cohesive
as possible — they own their own domain logic … These are choreographed
using simple RESTish protocols” — Fowler, M and Lewis, J 2014, Microservices.

API-First, API-as-a-Product
API-first is a software design approach that centers on the API as the means
of interacting with services and data. It treats APIs as first-class citizens,
making APIs more reusable and adaptable, and enabling organizations to
move faster and innovate more rapidly.

API-as-a-Product describes a paradigm in which the API is not only the


method of delivery — it is the primary product of value being delivered, based
on an open business model mindset.

An API product is not an API specification or backend service, but rather a


deployable package including code, security/regulatory policies, access
model, API documentation, SLAs, and a monetization and/or consumer-
engagement model.

Design-First & OpenAPI


Design-first is an approach that prioritizes the design and specification of
API-first products, taking advantage of code generators to accelerate
development. Design-first is often, but not always, a complimentary facet of
an API-first strategy.

Model Driven Development is a design-first approach involving collaborative


design workshops and modeling tools to allow a diverse group of
stakeholders to collaborate on a composable, evolvable and secure REST
model, from which API/Event specifications are generated.

The OpenAPI specification is a broadly supported, de facto standard


specification language for HTTP APIs and features a healthy ecosystem of
design tools and “one-click” generators for server scaffolding, client
code/SDKs, mocking services and API test suites.

API Gateway
An API gateway is a platform or service that sits in front of an API provider
and acts as a single point of entry for client applications. The API Gateway
routes API calls, enforces SLAs, provides cache management, and protects
API back-ends with payload validation, authorization, rate-limiting and
other configurable policies.

An API Gateway is often deployed as an access control point and network


edge service to control and audit ingress, with close integration with Identity
and Access Management and Security Incident and Event Management
services.

An API gateway is the source of usage metrics that provide visibility into
usage, patterns and trends.

API Management
API Management is about much more than operating one or more API
gateways. API Management is facilitated by a platform or framework of
services that provide the means to publish, secure, manage and observe
APIs, and to discover and access APIs via a self-service API catalog / portal.

An API management platform offers value to API consumers by facilitating


self-service discovery and access to APIs — avoiding blocking engagements
with platform and provider teams. It provides value to API providers and
business stakeholders by facilitating client engagement and SLA
management, providing visibility into API usage and trends, and exposing
management APIs for decoupled CI/CD deployment automation.

API Management Framework


A COTS API Management platform alone is not a complete solution.

Decoupled, well governed self-service integration is enabled via API


management platforms inter-operating with a framework of centrally
managed enterprise services.
Full stack API management framework components encompass all aspects
of API security, client and provider onboarding, lifecycle and release
management, client engagement, support, monitoring and observability.

API Portal and API Catalog


An API Portal hosts and authorizes access to the API catalog and API
documentation. It facilitates client registration, IAM credential and/or
certificate management and API access request workflows.
An API portal will provide a dashboard for API metrics and a manage
communication between consumers and providers. Client code or SDKs can
usually be generated on and downloaded from an API Portal.

An API Catalog provides the means for application developers to discover,


learn about and request access to APIs.

An API Catalog is not dissimilar to a catalog for an online grocery retailer,


where potential customers can browse for and arrange access to the
products they need.
An online grocery retail business cannot hope to be successful until it can
offer a catalog that includes a baseline collection of core, broadly relevant
products. In the same way, a vibrant API ecosystem requires a rich API catalog
of reusable, coherent and composable APIs, covering a critical mass of core
business capabilities. To this end, API quality governance is essential.

API Ecosystem
An API Ecosystem encompasses the network of API consumer and API
producer communities, as well as the APIs offered in a community facing
API catalog.

An organisation may manage multiple API ecosystems encompassing


Internal, partner and public API communities.
Community and Catalog management are at the heart of an API ecosystem.
Communities must be actively engaged, and a catalog of high quality,
composable APIs must be iteratively built up.

API Governance
API Governance is a topic that spans the governance organisation, API
strategy, API standards and patterns, API lifecycle management, governance
tactics and ecosystem management.
Open in app

Search Write

API Lifecycle Governance will be focused on facilitating secure, standards


compliant API lifecycle management by decoupled and autonomous
business domains. API Lifecycle management covers Design, Build &
Release and Runtime governance phases

Minimum-viable-governance is a term sometimes used to describe


governance that is guided and enforced by collaborative tooling, automation
and policy-as-code to ensure minimal blocking touchpoints.

Wrap-up
This has been a lightning tour of some key concepts in API strategy,
architecture and management. There is a lot more to be said on each of
these topics, and some considerable variation in how these terms are
defined. If these concepts are important to your API strategy, it is a good idea
to settle on and document an agreed definition.
If you are interested in reading further, here are some additional resources
on API strategy, architecture and management:

Design Patterns for Business Resource APIs | API Central | Medium

API Design Practice. A practical guide to API QA and the design of stable,
coherent and composable business resource APIs

An introduction to API Version Management

Writing API Design Standards. An 8-step guide to tailoring API design


standards to your organizational context

Api Management Api Strategy Api Architecture Api Roadmap Api Primer

Written by TRGoodwill Follow

685 Followers · Editor for API Central

Tim has several years experience in the delivery and evolution of interoperability
frameworks and platforms, and currently works out of Berlin for Accenture ASG

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