API SCORING
API Scoring is a gamification mechanism used to evaluate the quality according to the standards of an API (Application Programming Interface). It assigns a numerical score to an API, considering various factors such as design, documentation or security.
As someone who has spent a significant amount of time working on API teams, I can confidently say that one of the most tedious tasks is ensuring that all implemented APIs adhere to established standards and best practices. To reinforce the quality commitment, it’s important to put in place measures to ensure that every API contract is designed correctly and complies with company guidelines.
One way to do this is by providing detailed guidelines and implementing thorough testing processes. Additionally, it is important to collaborate more closely with development teams to ensure that everyone is fully aware of company requirements.
Another way to improve the quality of the APIs is by offering training and education opportunities. This will help ensure that our developers are up to date on the latest best practices and trends. It is advisable to take advantage of any available tools or frameworks that can help in the development and testing processes. By doing this, the reliability of the API’s will increase and the chance of errors will reduced.
On the other hand, teams have their deadlines and goals to achieve and whitepaper and rules are not the first things on their minds.
To address this issue, clear communication around API development and adherence to standards should be established. This can be done by setting deadlines for API development and regularly reviewing progress to ensure standards are being met. Additionally, having a dedicated team or individual responsible for monitoring adherence to standards can help ensure that development teams are held accountable for following guidelines.
Finally, it’s good to have a continuous improvement process in place for the API development process and the whitepaper standards.
API Scoring can be a useful tool to ensure that API development adheres to standards. This can be done by assigning a score to each API based on how well it aligns with established guidelines and best practices. Developers can have a clear understanding of how they should improve their API to meet the standards.
API SCORING ECOSYSTEM
To establish a complete and efficient API scoring system within an API ecosystem, several key components must be put in place. These include:
- Whitepaper: A set of guidelines and best practices that the API should adhere to achieve a high score. These criteria can include factors such as API design, documentation, and testing coverage, but any other criteria could be added. Regarding the API scoring mechanism, it has been determined that the use of alphabetical grading labels, such as A+, A, B, C, etc, will be implemented as it is more visually intuitive and easier to understand.
2. Scoring algorithm: A microservice in charge of evaluating the API using a set of established rules. The goal is to make the process crystal clear, always consistent, and produce results that can be trusted. It also looks at all key aspects that matter for the evaluation, such as these but feel free to add more aspects:
3. Visual Studio Code Extension: Integration of the API scoring system into the development environment, such as Visual Studio, through the use of extensions. This allows developers to easily view their API’s score, and receive feedback on how to improve it, without having to leave their development environment. This integration can also allow developers to automatically run the scoring algorithm as part of their development workflow, making it easier to track progress and ensure that their API meets the established standards and best practices.
4.CLI (Command Line Interface): developers can easily run the scoring algorithm and view API’s score using a set of instructions from the command line. It is useful for developers who prefer to work in a terminal or command prompt environment, and can also be integrated into automated development workflows, such as Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines.
PLAYING WITH API SCORING ECOSYSTEM
As explained on the previous sections, API Scoring gives you insights how well are you adhering to standards. These insights should be used from point 0 — Design Stage — until it is published on your internal API Portal.
Below you are able to check how is a sample design process and how the score can bring valuable insights to you:
Step 1 — Create the specification
Developers create the API specification using their preferred IDE and then they can evaluate in real time using the extensions already available on Visual Studio Code or IntelliJ if they are following or not the rules established on the whitepapers.
Step 2 — Evaluating the API
Once the specification is created and the development of the API is completed, is time to move forward an evaluate the API.
It is possible to do that using the command line (CLI) or through the API provided by API Scoring service.
This evaluation will generate a final score for the API specification. The final score will provide valuable insights into the quality and adherence to best practices of the API. With this information, it is possible to take the the right decisions, such as displaying a warning, or an error, not publishing the API, or simply displaying the score in a designated location.
Step 3 — Publishing in API Portal
The last step is to publish the API in API Portal, and it is there where also all developers will be able to see the score of the created APIs and they will be able to choose if they rely on that API or they preferred to look for another one with a higher score.
It’s important to note that the API scoring goal is not blocking development/publish any API, it is just a tool to advise developers and help them make their own choices. Keeping in mind this we can use some tricks to ensure API’s will obtain the greatest mark.
- High Scored API’s are displayed on the top with an A+ label
- API search engine take into account the score.
- A higher score means the attached Postman collection is more complete and ready, making it easier for customers to test.
Additionally, the API portal includes features such as detailed information about the scoring, so developers can easily identify the specific areas where an API may need improvement and take action accordingly.
Summary
API scoring is a system that evaluates the quality of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) based on established standards and best practices. The quality of an API is assigned a numerical score that considers factors such as design, documentation, security, and more.
An API scoring system can be established within an API ecosystem by putting key components in place, such as a set of guidelines (whitepaper), a scoring algorithm, and integration into the development environment through visual studio extensions or CLI. Developers should use API scoring from the design stage to publication in the API Portal. The process involves creating the API specification, evaluating the API to receive a final score, and publishing the API in the API Portal. The final score provides valuable insights into the quality of the API and helps inform decisions such as publishing or improving the API.
