Many Software companies including Matrix Marketers, have brought a big shift in developing software projects.  Rebuilding the software and repeating the code, again and again, is a common practice. The developers use to be busy redeveloping the code which is often scraping all of the previous work and create complex data migration tasks where an old project is again reshaped. On the top priority, integration of cross-platform applications, reusability of old code, an interaction of applications are the few reasons for the adaptation of API driven approach.

Essentially API acts as a middleware between two applications. Many open-source technologies like PHP, RoR and much more opt this approach to be free from building a communication interface.

APIs are basically used for modularity, separation of concerns and hiding internal complexity. When a particular type of API is created for two components to interact with each other, then as long as the API doesn’t change, components can be swapped in and out. In a layman language, you can drive a Volvo because the API is the same as your car.

APIs are everywhere in computer land. Modular code is easier to test, maintain and reason with. APIs find out the ways in which we can use a code of other applications into ours. By just incorporating API by name in the application, all the process defined inside can be used. To know the how and where the code is written inside goes out of the scope for API users. APIs are used for producing continuous and changeable code which can flow like a fluid as per the application requirement.

What is API Driven Development?

One of the major considerations in using API driven approach is to divide the complex functionality of today’s applications in parts so that each task can be handled separately. For instance, if you an API service to access business logic, API knows nothing about displaying data, but it knows everything there is to know about the data itself.

API documentation is an essential blueprint which allows others to use the API. The intuitive docs must be prepared for others who will work with particular API. How you actually build the database and functionality behind the API is very much up to you but sudden and often changes should be avoided especially when the API is used as a third-party API.

The best way is over HTTP in a RESTful manner. JSON is extensively used in APIs for data management activities. Hearing that this is how you’ve designed it will be music to most developer’s ears and integration will be much easier.

Use of APIs

In the front-end application, the API service is normally used to display data to users and perform interactions e.g. creating, editing and deleting user accounts. The ease of maintaining the application separately and API separately will bring many unspoken benefits for the application and for developers. You just plug them together when they’re ready.

After installing basic features of the APIs, you must look forward to installing services to support mobile and other complex services in an app. Once this type of interactions is created, making changes in design and some functionality becomes very easy for the developer.

Maybe other people could do something cool with your data? Giving them access to your API will change the scenario for you. Famous companies who have done this and hugely benefited from the third-party developer ecosystem include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for logins, access to your account assets like photos, search and loads more.

Scope of API

API approach literally helps us to create faster applications which are the requirement of programming. It is recommended that instead of rewriting the code which is already developed by some other programmer is just like wasting resources and time. That time can be utilized in solving some other complex issue.

Some of the tips to make effective use of APIs are:

• Make use of every line of code
• Rather than acting smart, handle the code wisely
• Take quick decisions instead of wasting time on testing and making the API work for your application
• Have complete knowledge of third-party APIs
• Build great products and adopt the programmer’s approach to develop something new and innovative.

Conclusion

Until and unless you are trying to develop some extraordinary module for your web project, don’t waste time in creating an application especially mobile app. Make effective use of available APIs and do the minimum coding Only the expert programmers can do this. To build API driven applications, hire developers from Matrix Marketers!