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How do you create RESTful APIs for multiple platforms?

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If you are a software developer, you probably have to deal with APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) on a regular basis. APIs are the interfaces that allow different applications to communicate and exchange data. One of the most popular and widely used types of APIs is RESTful (Representational State Transfer) APIs, which follow a set of principles and standards to ensure consistency, scalability, and performance. But how do you create RESTful APIs that can work with multiple platforms, such as web, mobile, or desktop? In this article, we will explore some of the best practices and tools that can help you design and implement RESTful APIs for multiple platforms.

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1 Define your resources

The first step to create a RESTful API is to define your resources, which are the entities or objects that your API will expose and manipulate. Resources can be anything from users, products, orders, posts, etc. Each resource should have a unique identifier, usually a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), that can be used to access and modify it. For example, /users/123 or /products/456. You should also define the operations that can be performed on each resource, such as GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE, following the HTTP methods and conventions. For example, GET /users/123 should return the user with the id 123, while POST /users should create a new user.

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Anand V.

Principal Software Engineer | AWS Solutions Architect
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Scaling your API There are different ways to scale your APIs 1. Throttling This allows you to limit access to your services to prevent them from being overwhelmed by too many requests. It has some clear benefits – you can safeguard your application whether it's a large users or a DOS attack. EX- Rate-Limiter. 2. Circuit Breaker Apply a circuit breaker to an API, It watches for failing calls to that service and if failures build up to a threshold, Circuit opens so subsequent calls automatically fail and redirects to the fallback method. It's kind of Mitigation step. 3. Caching The purpose of the cache is to avoid frequent DB hits to store the data in-memory and refresh them based on TTL or other strategy. This boosts the performance.

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Paul Tocatlian

Be Bolder. Dream Bigger.
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Absolutely, defining the resources meticulously forms the cornerstone of creating a robust RESTful API. By establishing unique identifiers and delineating the operations that can be performed on each resource, it sets a clear roadmap for potential interactions within the API. This structure not only organizes data access and manipulation logically but also aligns with HTTP methods, ensuring consistency and ease of use. The examples you provided perfectly illustrate a systematic approach to building an API where the user can intuitively navigate and perform necessary operations, a practice that serves as a fundamental step in the successful development of a RESTful API.

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2 Design your responses

The next step is to design your responses, which are the data that your API will return to the clients. Responses should be consistent, clear, and easy to parse. One of the most common formats for responses is JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), which is a lightweight and human-readable data format. JSON can represent different types of data, such as strings, numbers, arrays, or objects. You should also include metadata in your responses, such as status codes, headers, pagination, links, or errors, to provide more information and feedback to the clients. For example, a successful response could have a status code of 200 OK, a content-type header of application/json, and a body with the requested data in JSON format.

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Paul Tocatlian

Be Bolder. Dream Bigger.
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Crafting responses that are clear and consistent is a pivotal step in building a RESTful API. Using JSON for responses ensures that the data is lightweight and easily readable, catering to various data types. Incorporating metadata such as status codes and headers enhances the client's understanding and interaction with the API, offering them precise insights into the transaction's status. Your example effectively encapsulates a successful response structure, showcasing an ideal setup in API communication.

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3 Document your API

The third step is to document your API, which is the process of describing and explaining your API to the potential users and developers. Documentation should include the details of your resources, operations, responses, parameters, authentication, errors, and examples. Documentation should be accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date. One of the most popular and widely used tools for documenting RESTful APIs is Swagger (also known as OpenAPI), which is a specification and a framework that allows you to create interactive and standardized documentation for your API. Swagger can also generate code, test cases, and client libraries for your API.

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4 Test your API

The fourth step is to test your API, which is the process of verifying and validating that your API works as expected and meets the requirements and specifications. Testing should cover different aspects of your API, such as functionality, performance, security, reliability, and usability. Testing should also be done on different platforms and environments, such as web browsers, mobile devices, or desktop applications. One of the most popular and widely used tools for testing RESTful APIs is Postman, which is a platform that allows you to create, send, and analyze requests to your API. Postman can also help you automate your testing, generate documentation, and monitor your API.

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5 Version your API

The fifth step is to version your API, which is the process of managing the changes and updates that you make to your API over time. Versioning your API allows you to introduce new features, fix bugs, or improve performance without breaking the existing functionality and compatibility of your API. Versioning your API also allows you to communicate and inform your users and developers about the changes and updates that you make to your API. One of the most common and widely used ways to version your API is to include the version number in the URI of your API, such as /v1/users or /v2/products. You should also follow the semantic versioning principles, which use three numbers to indicate the major, minor, and patch changes to your API.

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6 Secure your API

The sixth and final step is to secure your API, which is the process of protecting your API from unauthorized access and malicious attacks. Securing your API involves different aspects, such as encryption, authentication, authorization, rate limiting, logging, and auditing. Encryption is the process of transforming your data into an unreadable form, using algorithms and keys, to prevent eavesdropping and tampering. Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of the users or clients that access your API, using methods such as tokens, passwords, or certificates. Authorization is the process of granting or denying access to the resources or operations of your API, based on the roles or permissions of the users or clients. Rate limiting is the process of limiting the number or frequency of requests that can be made to your API, to prevent overloading or abuse. Logging is the process of recording the activities and events that occur in your API, such as requests, responses, errors, or exceptions. Auditing is the process of analyzing and reviewing the logs to detect and resolve any issues or anomalies in your API.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Igor Karp

Principal Engineer at LinkedIn; ex-Google
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The generated article focuses on a more generic "How do you create RESTful APIs?" question and ignores a additional complexity of supporting multiple platforms that may have different requirements due to f.e. network bandwidth constraints, user experience, release schedule. The key design question would be whether to add platform specific APIs. By default you should strive to design platform agnostic APIs. However some factors can be addressed and some may force you to reconsider. For example differences in release schedule can be addressed by versioning. Network constraints may be addressed using projection or media type negotiations. Differences in the user experience may have to be addressed by introduction of platform specific APIs.

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Himanshu Singh

Staff Software Engineer @ TomTom | IIT Roorkee
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Sometimes we also provide a REST API client to the users to easily interact with our REST API. REST Client is a program or application that interacts with REST API using the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST). The purpose of a REST API client is to send HTTP requests to the API in order to perform operations like retrieving data, creating, updating, or deleting resources on a server.

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How do you create RESTful APIs for multiple platforms?

1

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3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your resources

2 Design your responses

3 Document your API

4 Test your API

5 Version your API

6 Secure your API

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Design

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How do you create RESTful APIs for multiple platforms?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your resources

2 Design your responses

3 Document your API

4 Test your API

5 Version your API

6 Secure your API

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Design

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