Swagger and OpenAPI are closely related technologies that have played significant roles in the development and documentation of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
2011: Origins of Swagger
— Tony Tam and team develop Swagger to streamline API documentation at Wordnik. Swagger aims to provide a standardized way to describe APIs, making it easier for developers to understand and work with them.
2014: Introduction of Swagger Specification
— Swagger Specification released, providing a structured format for describing RESTful APIs. This specification defines the structure of API documentation, including endpoints, parameters, responses, authentication methods, and more.
2015: Open Sourcing and Formation of OpenAPI Initiative
— Swagger Specification open-sourced by SmartBear Software.
— OpenAPI Initiative formed under the Linux Foundation to standardize Swagger.
2016: Renaming to OpenAPI Specification
— Swagger Specification officially renamed as OpenAPI Specification (OAS) version 3.0.
Ongoing: Version Updates and Community Growth
— Continuous updates and contributions from a diverse community.
— Establishment of OpenAPI tools, libraries, and best practices. It provides developers with a powerful toolset for designing, documenting, and testing APIs, and has contributed to the development of a vibrant ecosystem of tools and libraries aimed at simplifying API development and consumption.