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Improve API Performance

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Improve API Performance

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13 Practical Ways To Improve

API Performance
Practical Tips & Tools

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

1. Caching
How it Works: Stores API responses
temporarily to avoid re-fetching the same data.

Tool: Redis (in-memory data store)

Code Example (Python - Flask):

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

Client-Side (HTTP Headers)
Instruct browsers/clients to cache responses.

Example (Flask Response Header):

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

Content Delivery Networks
(CDNs):
Distribute your API globally for faster delivery.

Tools: Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

2. Efficient Data Handling
Key Idea: Send only the data that's
needed.
Tool: JSON serialization libraries (Python:
json, JavaScript: JSON.stringify)
Code Example (Python - Flask):

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

3. Rate Limiting
How it Works: Restricts the number of
requests from a user in a time frame.
Tool: Flask-Limiter (Python)

Code Example (Python - Flask):

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

4. Load Balancing
How it Works: Distributes traffic across
multiple servers for better performance.

Tool: NGINX, HAProxy

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

5. Monitoring & Optimization
Tools:
New Relic (comprehensive
monitoring)
Prometheus (open-source
monitoring)
Grafana (visualization for metrics)

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

6. Database Optimization
#1. Indexing (PostgreSQL): Create an index on the
product_name column:

#2. Query Tuning (MySQL): Use EXPLAIN to

analyze queries and identify optimizations.

#3. Batching: Fetch data in batches to reduce

round trips to the database.

#4. ORM Optimization (SQLAlchemy):

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

7. Data Serialization
JSON Optimization: Use libraries like
RapidJSON or ujson (Python) for faster parsing.

Protocol Buffers: Ideal for internal

communication between services.

Tool: protoc (compiler)

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

8. Network Optimization
Compression (Flask): Enable Gzip
compression in your web server
configuration.

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

9. API Design
Pagination (Flask-SQLAlchemy):

Filtering and Sorting: Allow clients to specify

filters and sort orders to get the data they
need.

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

10. Architectural
Considerations
API Gateway (Kong): Centralized
management of authentication, rate limiting,
and routing.

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

11. Load Test Your API
Why: Find out how your API behaves under
stress.

How: Use tools like Locust or k6 to simulate

a large number of users hitting your API.

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

12. Profile Your Code
Why: Pinpoint specific lines of code that
are slowing things down.

How: Use profilers like cProfile (Python) or

the built-in Node.js profiler.

By SHAILESH SHAKYA @BEGINNERSBLOG.ORG

Additional Tips
Choose the Right Database: Consider NoSQL
databases like MongoDB for flexible schemas or
Redis for caching.
Upgrade to HTTP/2: Take advantage of features
like multiplexing and header compression.
Cache Authorization Decisions: Avoid repeating
authorization checks for the same user or token.
GraphQL: Query language for APIs, allows
clients to request only the data they need.
gRPC: High-performance RPC (Remote Procedure
Call) framework.
Serverless Architectures: Run your API code
without managing servers (e.g., AWS Lambda,
Azure Functions).