If you closely monitor the programming practices, you will find Apis have become a foundational technology for the development of robust and scalable enterprise applications. At Matrix Marketers, we have practiced APIs integration-based architecture that has long been in use within enterprise IT. But this is a narrow view.

This post elaborates the broader reality, where APIs will examine some of the important implications of the movement to the API-centric architecture that is underway in enterprise application development.

All development is API development

Today’s software is built as services. Instead of creating web frameworks that invoke web pages offering services, modern applications have APIs as the base model. Applications have embraced APIs on the front end for connecting to rich clients; on the backend for integrating with internal systems; on the sides for enabling other applications so that their internal data becomes visible to them.

The majority of enterprise software development efforts are focused on building web applications using web frameworks such as J2EE, NET, RoR, PHP, and other technologies are implementing model-view-controller (MVC) design patterns and page template technologies to develop latest web applications. The entire attention of developers was to integrate the application built with this technology with the APIs.

APIs move to the front end

Web 2.0 focused more on rich client development. The shortcoming and inconsistent use of JavaScript was updated to latest browsers. At the same time, renewed competition in the browser market drove more innovation and acceleration of the implementation of web standards.

HTML5 and JavaScript made it possible for much of the interaction to run in the browser rather than to be orchestrated via page-based flows.

Web application developers found it necessary to create APIs to allow communication between the browser and the server.

Over time, these techniques accumulated, with more and more functionality that had previously been implemented in page templates becoming replaced with API calls. The end result is what’s now called the “single page app,” or SPA. At this point, no user interactions are serviced via page templates. On a web page, you will find interactions handled with the help of JavaScript by generating a user interface via HTML5 technique and libraries like jQuery. A new API call is generated whenever an interaction is invoked.

It is observed that when we adopt an API driven approach, the new analytics techniques are to be adopted and common practices can’t be implemented. No doubt, interaction based APIs produce better results and can analyze better web usage. JavaScript enables detailed observation of where app users spend time and what they are doing within the applications. These analytics can be transmitted to analytics APIs in a constant stream of interaction data.

Mobile forces the issue

Even in the mobile app development, the traditional client-server approach is adopted where all interactions happen client-side and a constant networked communications mechanism between client and server must be maintained.

For mobile apps, the API-driven UX becomes non-optional. A mobile user doesn’t have the choice to not to implement UX based platforms like HTML and JavaScript functionality.

The client/server communications mechanism in the age of mobile is APIs. In some cases, the same developer is charged with building the server-side and client-side interactions, but in other cases, it became necessary to have specialists building each client implementation. Further, these specialists are often external contractors, digital agencies, or system integrators.

This means that the application development effort needs to have an API project at the heart of it. A web or mobile app developer should understand the working of APIs as they themselves can produce API and have a deeper understanding at the design, security and functionality level.

APIs open enterprise applications

The individual applications are built by considering the fact that the internal data can be accessed by the integration model. The developer had to make sure that his application supports all the working environment and checking of this use to consume a lot of time of developers. Now, the application developed by him must get integrated with the APIs used.

The most common form of APIs practices used for the web are: RESTful, JSON-based data, simple versioning, and key-based access control. This means that developers can easily build APIs into their applications and support their usage without undue distraction from their central mission of application delivery. The result: when the time comes for application-to-application integration, the need for separate integration middleware is obviated. nitric Architecture: All Development is API Development.

Conclusion:

The API centric approach has the commonly adopted practice and helps in bringing the flexibility in app development. However, with the use of cross-platform applications, it has become mandatory to have a portable code. Hence, the APIs are mandatory not the option. To build more sophisticated applications using APIs, you may contact Matrix Marketers!