Code can’t live alone — Age of Integration
Have you ever wondered why almost all enterprise applications do a full-fledged interface for us(developers)?
As you can see, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Shopify, Spotify, and others, for example, have done almost full-fledged subsites on how to write API code that integrates with their application! And that has impacted their whole application architecture and time to market.
Millions of dollars in investment went to have API full documentation and exposure of application functionality securely.
So why they did that? do they just love us? Developers?! Or they like to let the CEO play some functional testing using command prompt or postman?!
Mmmmm No, I don’t think so 🤔!
An application body will remain tiny and weak if it didn’t integrate!
What the hell does that mean!
The main objectives of any application whatsoever can be devided into two:
- Increase its userbase regardless they are buyers or just surfers then to be able to reach them all
- Survive arising competition and copycats
And how would create APIs effect that objective?
If you think about it as a human body, then having more veins is essential to go large and beyond borders
So it is all about Expansion!
In technology, rule number 1: Expand or die and lay behind
You have millions of sites have FB as their primary login or marketing campaign main target, al ots of medium links got Spotify songs embedded, a huge amount of websites created on top of Shopify or PrestaShop, IOT calls to wrapped hardware, AI engines, serverless apps are deeply integrated with AWS cloud, (Images, Javascript and static resources) hosted on cloudinary website, thousands of bots are integrated with slack, messenger and tomorrow WhatsApp… and much much more
Data are flowing massively around!
API technology is already advancing, REST going to Graphql, IPv6 for internet, IOT through mesh network, PAN, BAN, NFC…
we need to catch it and at least know how to extend and integrate.
I urge you again to study your application architecture and start being open to others while maintaining security and logging, put one item for that within your backlog, an item saying: “Be Open”
finally, and as a side note, online surfers will try to scrap your application if it doesn’t have API ability :) you dont want that! Start creating your APIs today
Before you leave this article, I want you to play with online public APIs to know what you can get right from your Application
Some resources to help you
Feel free to drop a comment and follow for future posts!
Happy coding!
