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Vaughn Vernon Signature Book
Principles of Web API Design: Delivering Value with APIs and Microservices
The Full-Lifecycle Guide to API Design
Principles of Web API Design brings together principles and processes to help you succeed across the entire API design lifecycle. Drawing on extensive in-the-trenches experience, leading consultant James Higginbotham helps you align every stakeholder on specific outcomes, design APIs that deliver value, and scale the design process from small teams to the entire organization.
Higginbotham helps you bring an "outside-in" perspective to API design to reflect the voices of customers and product teams, map requirements to specific and well-organized APIs, and choose the right API style for writing them. He walks through a real-world example from the ground up, offering guidance for anyone designing new APIs or extending existing APIs.
This guide is invaluable for anyone involved in planning or building APIs--architects, developers, team leaders, managers in single and multi-team environments, and any technical or business professional delivering "API-as-a-product" offerings.
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
Principles of Web API Design brings together principles and processes to help you succeed across the entire API design lifecycle. Drawing on extensive in-the-trenches experience, leading consultant James Higginbotham helps you align every stakeholder on specific outcomes, design APIs that deliver value, and scale the design process from small teams to the entire organization.
Higginbotham helps you bring an "outside-in" perspective to API design to reflect the voices of customers and product teams, map requirements to specific and well-organized APIs, and choose the right API style for writing them. He walks through a real-world example from the ground up, offering guidance for anyone designing new APIs or extending existing APIs.
This guide is invaluable for anyone involved in planning or building APIs--architects, developers, team leaders, managers in single and multi-team environments, and any technical or business professional delivering "API-as-a-product" offerings.
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
333 pages, Paperback
Published December 21, 2021
35 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
James Higginbotham
11 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. For the linguist, see James^^Higginbotham.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 2, 2021
I didn't enjoy the book in general, it has some good quotations and few good moments but I think It describes a lot of trivial things - if you are somewhere at the begining of You career or You didn't have a chance to write some APIs before or You didn't read a book about apis/microservices this still may be good pick. Otherwise You will be bored - nothing advanced can be found here.
Some topics are way too briefly described. Event Storming (I am not sure if this chapter is very needed in this book) - only big picture, Hateoas - only few samples with short description, security - several basic security features described, DDD...
The chapter "Remaining agile with api design" is short and obvious. I also didn't like the BE & FE teams split which was mentioned. I know that companies operate that way, but this way of working shouldn't be spreaded in books. Even in Microfrontends in Action the author doesn't make such distinction. I am biased but also QA teams which were mentioned next to TDD made me sad.
If You don't remind reading more books I recommend Sam Newman "Building Microsercives", Subbu Allamaraju "Restful Web Services Cookbook" and Kleppmann "Designing data intensive applications" instead. These will help You more.
Some topics are way too briefly described. Event Storming (I am not sure if this chapter is very needed in this book) - only big picture, Hateoas - only few samples with short description, security - several basic security features described, DDD...
The chapter "Remaining agile with api design" is short and obvious. I also didn't like the BE & FE teams split which was mentioned. I know that companies operate that way, but this way of working shouldn't be spreaded in books. Even in Microfrontends in Action the author doesn't make such distinction. I am biased but also QA teams which were mentioned next to TDD made me sad.
If You don't remind reading more books I recommend Sam Newman "Building Microsercives", Subbu Allamaraju "Restful Web Services Cookbook" and Kleppmann "Designing data intensive applications" instead. These will help You more.
October 30, 2022
I'm not the right reader for this book, so it's hard to rate. Is it useful for its intended audience? Possibly.
I was pulled in by the title, expecting technical software design principles for API design. That's not what the book contains, though. There are five overall principles that I'll try to summarise like this:
- Involve many stakeholders in API design
- Focus on desired outcome
- Select API design element that match need
- Document APIs
- APIs are forever
Sensible notions, but hardly as technical as I had hoped.
Most of the book describes a series of analysis processes named ADDR: Align-Define-Design-Refine. Most of these steps mostly seem to involve paperwork and meetings.
It's reasonable to first understand the needs of the desired solution so that you have a chance of developing the right thing. I have nothing against that, it's just not what interests me.
A better title for the book, then, might have been Work Processes of Web API Design, but I can understand if the publisher would have been less keen on that. Something similar has happened to me, at least.
Perhaps it's my overall lack of interest in this kind of problem analysis that biases me, but I found the prose too tepid to keep me interested. I liked the chapter on documentation, though. Perhaps, again, it reflects that this is a topic that I do care about. That chapter contained useful suggestions on what to include in documentation, which parts are the most important, and how to organise documentation. I could see myself returning to that chapter to use it as a checklist.
I was pulled in by the title, expecting technical software design principles for API design. That's not what the book contains, though. There are five overall principles that I'll try to summarise like this:
- Involve many stakeholders in API design
- Focus on desired outcome
- Select API design element that match need
- Document APIs
- APIs are forever
Sensible notions, but hardly as technical as I had hoped.
Most of the book describes a series of analysis processes named ADDR: Align-Define-Design-Refine. Most of these steps mostly seem to involve paperwork and meetings.
It's reasonable to first understand the needs of the desired solution so that you have a chance of developing the right thing. I have nothing against that, it's just not what interests me.
A better title for the book, then, might have been Work Processes of Web API Design, but I can understand if the publisher would have been less keen on that. Something similar has happened to me, at least.
Perhaps it's my overall lack of interest in this kind of problem analysis that biases me, but I found the prose too tepid to keep me interested. I liked the chapter on documentation, though. Perhaps, again, it reflects that this is a topic that I do care about. That chapter contained useful suggestions on what to include in documentation, which parts are the most important, and how to organise documentation. I could see myself returning to that chapter to use it as a checklist.
July 14, 2023
This book offers comprehensive coverage of various topics essential to successful API design, including different styles of APIs, effective testing strategies, and designing for adaptability. Granted it may not be as technical as some would hope however I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of the approach presented in this book.
With minimal effort, I was able to adopt the ADDR approach and successfully apply it to teams working on API development within our organization. The feedback received from these teams has been positive, with team members expressing their gratitude for a clear and effective approach to API design.
Overall the approach has been an early success for us and this is why I've endorsed this book.
With minimal effort, I was able to adopt the ADDR approach and successfully apply it to teams working on API development within our organization. The feedback received from these teams has been positive, with team members expressing their gratitude for a clear and effective approach to API design.
Overall the approach has been an early success for us and this is why I've endorsed this book.
July 5, 2022
Describes a iterative design process for eliciting requirements, modelling, designing and documenting APIs. Considerations for security and application of current best practices around API Gateways, OAuth and OpenID Connect. Good primer on microservices but perhaps would've been better as an Appendix like the HTTP primer. Some errors in figure numbers and proofing.
June 1, 2023
In this book, James has given us the gems he learned from his experience working with many companies and teams. I liked how the book outlined five principles of API design and explained in detail how to apply those principles. The book also explains Align-Define-Design-Refine (ADDR) Process.
I found the book engaging and full of practical advice on how to be effective in API design.
I found the book engaging and full of practical advice on how to be effective in API design.
reject-after-initial-skim
November 10, 2021Too basic and tries to cover too many topics.
April 13, 2022
Excellent book with a very good coverage on the API design principles and process.
December 6, 2023
Principles of web API design: An introduction.
This should be the title. People will have fewer expectations. There is nothing wrong with the book, however it feels like it has a second & moreover important part missing.
This should be the title. People will have fewer expectations. There is nothing wrong with the book, however it feels like it has a second & moreover important part missing.
September 12, 2023
I'd say it's a good one if you're very new to Web APIs, there are good notes on the framework you to approach the design, but if you have experience you will not find anything novel here.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews