How to build an Application Programming Interface (API)?

Connectivity has brought the world to our feet. Be it the social media connecting several friends, a telephone that passes on our message to our relatives, or for that matter a vehicle that helps us commute from one place to another. This has brought the human race closer than ever imagined. The fact being, unless we had a medium or a mediator, connecting with our friends, relatives, or reaching a destination wouldn’t have been possible. Well, the same logic applies to the software, programs, and applications as well. This makes the free flow of data possible. Imagine with just a click of a mouse button you can send a message via Facebook, or just by a tap on the application you can order your meal or place an order for your favourite dress. All this is possible by the courtesy of Application Programming Interface (API). This article will guide you through the basics of API.

Application Programming Interface

What is an API?

Before we move on to the formal definition of API, picture this. You are in this Michelin star restaurant. The waiter approaches and you order their finest dishes. The waiter then goes to the chef and places your order. Once the dish is ready, the waiter brings to you, your dish. In this whole scenario, the waiter acts as a mediator, and in technical terms, the waiter is a metaphor for an API. Coming to the formal definition of an API, it is a type of software interface that allows communication between computers, programs, software, and applications. They enable data exchange and functionality easily and with security. The API specification is a standard that provides information about its construction, usage, and interface. Mostly, APIs are positioned between the application and web server.

How do APIs work?

Its function is pretty simple. When the user initiates the conversation with the application for some information, this process is known as a request. This request is further processed by API’s Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). This communication includes a request verb, headers, and request body. The API now takes this communication forward to the external program, which considers the request and provides the necessary information. The API then transfers the data back to the application.

How API works

How to build an API?

API creation exposes one to new opportunities. There are two key aspects to be considered while creating an API. Firstly, define the backend resources that your API will be using or reusing. The available resources are RESTful service, a SOAP-based web service, or an AMQP-conformant message broker. Moving on, a good API is always consumer-oriented. So, its designs cater to the needs of the clients and consumers. A good API manages the backend conveniently and offers the best consumer-centric solution. Here’s how an API is created:

Stage 1: Groundwork

A good foundation determines the course of your action and increases the chance of your product’s success. To build an API, start with basics first.
• Determine the requirements.
• Understand the problem.
• Pen down the business development of the API, both functional and non-functional (response time, API performance, security, etc.)
• Describe REST APIs.
• Narrow down the best URL practices. (https://blog.stoplight.io/crud-api-design)
• Maintain consistency.

This progress needs to be documented. Before you move ahead with designing the API, answer the following questions:
•Who is the target audience?
•How can this API solve the problem?
•What should be the endpoint?
•How can you address the concerns from an API perspective?

• Stage 2: Design and Prototype

Before you begin this stage, gather the best team possible who will help you reach your API goals. And now it’s time to commence with the brainstorming session for the APIs design. If that’s a hassle, why worry when App-Scoop is here. We will help you design the approach, prescribe a guideline, write the API description, design the API interface, create an API prototype, build a sturdy backend, and handover an efficient consumer-oriented API.

• Stage 3: Development and Testing

It’s now time to build the server. The API design must be locked up before moving to the third step. Verify the implementation even if there are any minor changes. Consider the documentation of the Design and Prototype phase as a Holi grail. Now, we move to the coding phase. Shortlist your preferred coding language and framework. This process is slightly tedious, but at every stage of your business requirement, App-Scoop will surely play a great role. Once the coding part is sorted, next comes the testing phase. Read the description step by step with the best available command-line tool that validates the API description. Thoroughly test the API implementation to enjoy the best possible outcome.

• Stage 4: Publish or Deploy

Review and test your API before deploying. Once you are sure, you can start the publishing process. Ideally, APIs are hosted on API gateways. API gateways act as a reverse proxy that accepts API requests, analyze them, fulfils the requirements, and return the appropriate results. It sits between client and backend services. Keep monitoring the functions and analyse the API usage.

• Stage 5: Handover

Now that your API is designed, developed, tested, and deployed, it’s time to handover the API to the client, unless it is for internal usage. If you are delivering it to your client, share all the necessary documentation and descriptions.

• Stage 6: Service

In reality, even if the product is up and running, your responsibility will never end. A true organization will always be by the client’s side whenever they need your help. Keeping analyzing the product. Take the feedback positively and work on then. Just remember your API must be the best in the market. 

Read more: https://www.akana.com/blog/create-api#how-to-create-api

What is API economy?

The digital boom has been taking the world by storm for a long. And we are not new to what digital transformation has brought to the table. As per studies, 40 per cent of the companies feel that adopting a digital model has improved their operational efficiency, while more than 35 per cent feel that this change has helped them meet changing customer expectations. If so, then why should APIs incorporate this. As a matter of fact, they already have. The API economy is a business model that uses API in the digital economy. This incorporation broadens their horizons while providing them with opportunities to grow their business. By far, Google Maps API is one of the best creations of Google technology. It enables companies to use their maps directly on their site.

Types of API:

Open API

These APIs are publicly available for the developers. It provides them with programmatic access to the web service. For instance, developers can incorporate Yahoo search into their software. This increases the traffic and ends up being beneficial for both.

• Composite APIs
They combine multiple API requests into a single API call. Owing to this feature, it reduces the server load and makes the process faster.

• Partner APIs
They are shared externally with the strategic business partners. Partner APIs is not publicly available, and they need specific requirements to access them.

• Internal APIs
It is an interface for an organization’s internal use. With this, the company’s developers can access application functionality and backend information.

Types of API Architectures:

API Architecture is a set of rules and guidelines about what knowledge an API can share with the client. It’s a framework that enables information about application functionality and backend information.

REST

It refers to representational state transfer. They are one of the most popular approaches to build APIs. These guidelines are super easy, lightweight, and ascendable to use.

• RPC
Known as Remote Procedural Call, RPC executes scripts on a server. It invokes processes, and it is one of the most upfront of three architectures.

• SOAP
It refers to the Simple Object Access Protocol. It is a lightweight XML-based protocol. SOAP is used to enhance information across networks.

Collaborate with App-Scoop
Over the years APIs have worked hard to prove their worth. If we begin to address the advantages of APIs, time will fall short. API saves cost, encourages innovation, enhances business development, pushes an organization to its goal, intensifies customers experience, generates new business opportunities, heightens productivity, connection, and collaboration, etc. That’s enough said. This sure must have spiked your interest in APIs. Contact our able team: https://www.app-scoop.com/contact-us.html to understand how APIs can power your business.

A beginner’s guide to Progressive Web Applications

Stats never lie! There are reports that companies that have launched their Progressive Web Applications (PWA) witness a significant amount of transformation in their business. Take, for instance, in 2016 The Washington Post released their PWA which was a combination of Google’s AMP and PWA technologies; this change had them achieve an 88% decrease in load time. On the other hand, Twitter rose to 75% more tweets, a 20% decrease in bounce rate, 65 per cent increase in pages per session once they shifted to Progressive Web Applications. Thomas Kent reduced their bounce rate by 57 per cent and saw an increase in the revenue by 79 per cent and organic traffic. In short, PWA has become the buzzword and they sure are living up to people’s expectations. In the articles, we begin by understanding what PWA are, user cases, pros and cons, and more.

What are progressive web applications?

Before we get into the formal definition of PWA, picture this. You are scrolling through a fine webpage that has managed to capture your attention. Soon a prompt msg pops up ‘Add to Home Screen’. You might be sceptical about permitting first, but wait till the magic happens. Once you give the permission, the PWA appears on your home screen. When you enter that, all the browser UI disappears, and you can use it as a seamless app. 

Coming to the actual definition of PWA – they aren’t your mundane or traditional application. It is a new software development methodology that is a beautiful confluence of hybrid regular web pages and a mobile application. PWA’s foundation relies heavily on modern APIs to deliver installability, capabilities, and reliabilities. It is built commonly by using web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly. With a single codebase, it can reach anywhere, anyone, and on any device. What this process essentially does is it allows the user a frictionless experience to reach where they want. And as Alex Ruxwell, the expert who coined the term, rightly said: PWAs are just websites that took the right vitamins

What is a Service Worker?

In all fairness, the reason why the PWA processes are executed with ease is courtesy of the Service Worker. It, indeed, is the fundamental part of PWA. Service Worker, a type of web worker, is basically a script written in javascript, that ensures offline access, quick loading of the pages despite the network issues, push notifications, and other features. As per Web Fundamentals, this file runs separately from the main browser thread, intercepting network requests, caching or retrieving resources from the cache, and delivering push messages.

How can your business benefit from PWA?

Reports infer that, by implementing PWA businesses such as AliExpress, Flipkart, and most importantly Google, have seen an increase in their retention which has reached somewhere between 50-100 per cent. This is means businesses can gain a lot by incorporating PWAs. A study proves that Alibaba.com, the world’s largest B2B platform, has increased conversions on the mobile web by 76% with PWA. Following are the reasons why businesses should consider PWA:

Seamless implementation

As PWA are built using JavaScript, there is no need to change the framework or bring new technologies – one can easily build PWA. Talking about this from the user’s perspective, they don’t have to go through the pain of installing PWA. While scrolling through the web browser, they can instantly allow the option of ‘Add to Home Screen’ and the app will be pinned on the devise’s home screen.

• Top-notch performance

To gain loyal customers, the response time of the app is one of the crucial criteria that defines it. To top that, the time take to load the page or speed of download has to fast as flash. PWA makes this process hassle-free and fast.

• Safety and security

For users and developers, safety always takes the front seat. Every PWA ensures that the server is secure from all malfunctions. It appears in the form of a green lock that the user can identify at the top of their browser. Moreover, all the network requests have to pass through Service Workers, hence, it goes without saying that the apps are hosted over HTTPS. This avoids third party attacks.

• Supports cross-platform

PWA supports cross-platform application development making it more widely used by developers. They can create apps that can be used on multiple platforms. This increases the reach of the application. In addition to all this, PWAs are a single codebase that indeed helps the developer.

• Low cost of development

Most applications cost a fortune to be built. However, the way PWA is designed, it does not burn a hole in your pocket. And the best part is it gives good returns too.

• Discoverable and shareable

One of the best parts of PWA is that they are easily identifiable and shareable. In essence, PWA is a website, hence it is discoverable on all search engines. This, indeed, happens to its biggest advantage over native applications.

User case

When it comes to cars and the automotive sector, BMW’s performance has surpassed all the user’s expectations. But that said and done, there is always scope for improvement. The BMW team hit the right chord when they decided to transform the mobile website. This project was handed to Jung von Matt, who runs a Humburg-based digital agency. The task was to build a mobile website that resonates with the company’s vision. Nine months down the line, the results were outstanding. And the approach that they incorporated was PWA and Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).

Outcome:

• 50 per cent growth in mobile users.

• Almost 4 times increase in people clicking from BMW.com to BMW sales site.

• The load time was 4 times faster.

• Almost 50 per cent more sites visit from search engine optimisation than the old site.

Limitations of Progressive Web Applications

There are two sides to a coin. While PWA has ample pros, it too comes with a set of cons. As PWA is still in its initial stages, there are a few challenges that it is facing.

No presence on the store

To reach the target audience, Andriod or Apple Store is a holy grail for all apps. The store gives the apps visibility, legitimacy, and reach. One of the biggest drawbacks of PWA is that they don’t have a reserved place in the store.

• Limited access
When it comes to technical options like Bluetooth, contacts, calendar, NFC; PWA takes a backseat as it does not provide all these functionalities. As PWA are fairly new in the town, they are not yet supported by all software and hardware.

• Lack of hardware and software support
PWA are still in the development phase. Its compatibility with OS and mobile browsers is not just justified. For instance, iOS does not support PWA. Hence, the users have limited access and cannot use functions such as sending push notifications, using Face ID or Touch ID, Siri, or Bluetooth.

Food for thought
Agreed, PWA are still in its initial stages. But it is quite commendable what it brought to the table in such less time. Henrik Joreteg, JavaScript developer, consultant, author, speaker, and educator said:
PWA is the single biggest thing to happen on the mobile web since Steve introduced the iPhone

PWA come in with a breath of fresh air. They give the developers a chance to experiment and give the users the experience of a lifetime. Still, wondering what’s the best solution for your organization? Talk to our experts to know more. Do drop in a message on: https://www.app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

References

1. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/marketing-strategies/app-and-mobile/bmws-journey-fast-smooth-and-reliable-mobile-website/