Fallthrough

APIs: Design Imperfectly, Improve Relentlessly

16 snips
Apr 7, 2025
Jamie Tanna, a Co-maintainer of OAPI CodeGen, dives into the fascinating world of API design. He shares invaluable insights on building APIs—embracing mistakes and the iterative process. The discussion highlights the importance of flexibility and planning, addressing challenges like pagination and versioning. They advocate for continuous improvement and separating application layers for better functionality. Plus, Jamie humorously introduces the concept of 'unpop' and encourages self-reflection with the idea of creating a 'Manual of Me' for better team understanding.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Versioning Foresight

  • Jamie Tanna, familiar with OpenAPI and API design, shared an anecdote about versioning.
  • Foresight in versioning allowed for a smooth breaking change integration six weeks post-production.
ADVICE

Thorough API Design

  • Invest ample time in upfront API design to avoid future regrets and awkward integrations.
  • Consider objects, actions, and potential future needs for a cohesive API experience.
ANECDOTE

Pagination Omission

  • Ian Wester-Lopshire shared an experience with an MVP API lacking pagination.
  • This caused page loading issues in Chrome due to excessive data, highlighting the importance of considering such features upfront.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app