What will be your go-to solution to awaken the full potential of your web development game? Of course, most of the time it is the use of Web APIs!

Yes, consulting with some experienced web developers out there, said to us, when you are using Web APIs in your product, its level of interactivity improves. In short, web APIs will let you offer a better user experience.

But let’s be real, designing a kick-ass Web API isn’t just about writing some lines of code together and calling it. As per experts, if you want your APIs to actually work (and not crash and burn in front of your users), then you must adhere to certain principles like keeping your API simple.

So, let me ask you this: do you know the basic principles of designing a successful Web API? Are you following them? If not, we are here to remind you. It’s time to elevate your API game and ensure that it’s a hit with users.

We will discuss the importance of choosing the right architecture, designing a consistent interface, and more. Read on to learn the essential rules for designing a great web API.

Essential Principles of Designing a Great Web API

1. Ease Of Adoption

Making sure that people can get up and running with your API is key to good Web API design. To achieve this goal, you should make sure that your API works properly whether it is used for the first time or every time.

Keeping it simple and using widely accepted technologies will make the difference between a hit and a miss.
Providing language-specific libraries for your API using tools like Alpaca, Apache Thrift, and others to interface with the service will help users to become productive quickly.
Don’t take a chance of reinventing JSON, REST, or SOAP, it’s better to go with widely accepted technologies.

Signup should also be automated and users should be quickly directed to a tutorial or other documentation they can use to learn more about the service.
Offering excellent support such as forums, bug trackers, and email support can help people find solutions to their problems quickly.

All of these elements work together to create an environment where adoption is easy and quick for your Web API.

2. Write Clear and Brief Documentation

All good APIs start with well-designed and thorough documentation that enables developers to better understand the capabilities and constraints of the API. Proper documentation helps reduce errors and result in smoother implementations, and is crucial to the success of any web API.

Developers need thorough information on every API endpoint, and element, with code examples of how they work. So, when writing instructions, be as clear and brief as possible.

Keep instructions as clear as you can and understandable for those with no coding knowledge. If there are

multiple endpoints for a single method, do mention each one of them
a table or diagram with clearly marked labels will help
Don’t let the reader brainstorm, simplify each point with a description

Following these will let you establish better communication with the readers. Above all, be sure to include a version in the documentation. Disturbing the different versions of your product will help keep developers up-to-date on changes made to the API over time.

3. Security

In the web world, the security of products is non-negotiable. The API provider has made their product strong enough to withstand cyberattacks. Having said that, if there is no sense of security with the API, no one will be willing to use it.

API developers should be asked to include elements to authenticate and authorize when accessing their API. Token-based authentication is a popular way to go about this.

A token is a random hash assigned to the user, which is then passed in through POST or an HTTP header.
To increase the security of the token, it should be generated with a unique identifier and a salt value, such as an SHA token. OAuth 2 +.
You can even consider using SSL. It is another good option for authentication and authorization.
If the API is accessible on a public website via JavaScript, URLs should also be validated per account for the token.

This adds an extra layer of security, as it ensures that only authorized requests can be made to the API. It’s important to remember that users should never be able to manipulate these URLs in any way.

4. Follow Consistency

Consistency in designing Web API guarantee that all data input and output are handled correctly.

Make sure that the APIs are internally consistent, using the same naming conventions and data handling throughout. It is very much annoying and confusing for users if they find changes to established rules and frameworks.

In the context of API design, inconsistency can lead to additional code being written to handle unique edge cases, ultimately hindering the user’s experience.

5. Flexibility

The key to ensuring a smooth API development process is to maintain a good balance between flexibility and security.

Yes, it is true.

In the programming world, the phrase “Garbage in, garbage out” (GIGO) might sound good as it says no mess, no problems. But this approach can be problematic in API designing. As an API provider, you must be flexible enough to accommodate new requirements.

Since it’s impossible to anticipate every way that users will use your service, and not all client platforms are equal, it’s beneficial to have some level of flexibility or tolerance with regard to input and output constraints.

Wrap-up

By carefully planning out your web API design, you will yield a higher-quality product that everyone will enjoy. Ensure your web API’s reliability and ease of use by following these five golden rules – ease of adoption, security, good documentation, and standards.

However, you can hire a professional API development company to develop and evaluate your web API before its official launch. Having an expert assess the technical aspects of your product gives it an extra layer of assurance before hitting the market.