The API gateway is the center of our universe when it comes to APIs. This is a reality operationally because when shit works or does not work, this is where the joy and pain is found. This is a reality because 99% of the stories we read on the tech blogosphere, hear from tech startups and analysts all tell us that the gateway matters. The modern API gateway was a carefully planned shift in power from your central database deep within your enterprise in the 1990s, externally via a service oriented architecture, and then via the modern API sprawl that keeps the landscape glowing at night across an apocalyptic urban techno landscape today. The real question is, was this your carefully planned shift in power, or was it someone else’s? To understand the modern API gateway, as well as the myriad of other tools and services that support APIs across operations, you need to understand the power dynamics and stories that exist, and who scoops up power and tells these stories. All of this is very entertaining, but sadly rarely ever about APIs.

One of the best things about writing on API Evangelist is I get to explore territory you don’t when working at an API service provider. There is no venture backed startup that will let me write a blog post telling you not to do APIs. I have contributed my fair share of mindless API cheer leading over the years, and can easily consider myself complicit in a lot of really bad APIs. Which leaves me thinking about why I did that API in the first place and feeling sad for the poor souls who are in charge of sustaining that API today (I am sorry). It all leaves me with a strong feeling that you should probably not do that API in the first place, it really will not end well.

In my previous post Evolving your APIs, I mention the main API versioning approaches. During the talk of the same name, I sometimes get some questions on the subject. In this post, I’ll detail each of them. I assume readers know the reasons behind versioning, semantic versioning, and product lifecycle. If not, I encourage you to read a bit about these themes; in particular, chapter 24 of the excellent API Design Patterns book focuses on them. I’ll summarize the subject in a few wo

I am thinking a lot about all the ways in which APIs don’t just define our online world, but also our physical world. On Saturday mornings I normally go for a walk in Central Park to chase squirrels (with my dog), then I take the subway up to 106th & Broadway to pick up bagels for the week. This morning I had the 8th email from Geico telling me I needed to take my 2021 Kia Telluride for a “photo inspection”. On a day where I normally wouldn’t let my online self dictate my physical self, Geico had told me my insurance would be canceled if I did not do what they said. It felt like an opportunity for me to not just satisfy my insurance requirements, but also tell a story about how our APIs can dictate reality in our physical worlds.

The surprisingly true story of how the state that has arguably benefited the most from the pay-TV industry … once voted to ban it. Blame an effective slogan.

Over the past few weeks of our Error 402 series on the history of web monetization, we talked about the rise of the commercialized internet, and how it enabled transactions online, leading to the o…

In this tutorial, we'll walk through the setup of such an environment from beginning to end, creating a single-node local development cluster to run WebAssembly workloads.

I know I'm getting the newsletter out very late this week (this kind of lackadaisical nonprofessionalism is why I don't offer paid subscriptions) so I'll...

Grafana introduces new infrastructure and cost monitoring capabilities in Grafana Cloud.

Organizations are investing in cutting edge of AI and ML capabilities that enable a more intelligent and streamlined software testing process.

Interactions can be applied to high-fidelity UX maps to showcase user research and further engage with stakeholders.

It’s a pleasure to be here in Jason’s esteemed garden of links and digressions, celebrating 20 years since we created

I was an economics major in college, and I've been grateful ever since for a few key concepts those courses drilled into me: things like opp

It's even worse than it appears..

Designer, game maker, and writer in Portland, OR. One of the good ones.

CC-licensed photo from bre pettis. Bless the toolmakers... but I'm worried that everybody wants to be one. You look at the celebration

At a time when traditional new organizations are struggling to reinvent themselves in a new world, the century-old library is emerging as a digital leader.

I have two exemplary pieces of 21st-century writing that I want to share with you. Neither is hot off the CMSes; they've both aged just a li

As you already know by now from Robin and Tim's posts, DC comics is relaunching the continuity of its primary universe. While I'll admit tha

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS I'm going to jump in the middle of Robin and Gavin's exchange on the DC Comics reboot, even though I explici

A leaky rocketship.

Percona Everest, now in alpha, is for organizations seeking to harness the benefits of a private database as a service without re-inventing the wheel.

I recently finished Democracy’s Data, The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them, and the book was the closest thing to capturing how I see the Application Programming Interface, or simply the API. I regularly get frustrated with my role in the API universe because of the conflicting force’s between not just API producer and consumer, but also the API service and tooling providers, and the investors who do or do not support them. I am fascinated with this intersection, but also repeatedly horrified by what occurs at this intersection at scale online today.

There is a lot that can stress Nike management, but surely one such scenario is their point of sale system going down during a new product release. Thousands of customers suddenly unable to purchase goods in stores or online due to a system outage