Most Useful API Design Patterns: Identifying useful API design patterns

Introduction

Let us know how to identify some useful API design patterns.

Did you really know what does it take for designing a great API product? The most obvious thing is that it requires a lot of work. The person needs to be proficient in software architecture.

But you will be quite surprised to know that the upcoming API designers have cut part of their work in the form of upheld API design patterns.

A Bit About API Designs

For those who are not familiar with useful API design patterns, there is a catalog of standards of design, with the addition of best design practices that the API team can use.

You can understand it to be falling under software design, this indicates the architecture of code, which is specially written for solving a problem.

Software design patterns such as those that are used for APIs can be adapted over and over for similar software problems. So, these design patterns can be taken as schemes to solve challenges that are related to common API designs.

They come in the form of shared language, which you and your employees can use amongst yourself. Design as per the standard while making use of a reliable API design, planning, and tools.

After doing this, you will experience how they will benefit your APIs development. Now, we are going to take you to some useful API designs.

Useful API Designs

1. Proper naming conventions for URIs

An API that is made in the representational state transfer architectural style makes use of what we know uniform resource locator identifiers for organizing resources.

The principle behind using this is to clearly transfer the purpose of URIs, whether it is for accessing a document, collecting, storing, or controlling.

Additional practices that are associated with the naming of URIs include the following:

Making use of nouns instead of verbs because the resource always refers to a thing and not an action.
Denotations of heirarchical relationships with forwarding slashes.
Addition of hyphens to URIs for better readability.
Removal of file extensions on URI to streamline them and make them look more trustworthy.
Making use of the URI query component for filtering or limiting resources for finding the exact ones that the user wishes to use.

Also read: Stages Of Custom Software Development That you Must Know

2. Making use of the correct HTTPS method

RESTful APIs are equipped with long withstanding conventions for the HTTPS method, which are usually verbs. GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETER signify certain ways of handling the APIs data.

This design pattern calls for the user to know when to use which. The significant thing is to never mix states. For instance, GET should be used for retrieving data for a certain resource.

POST is utilized for sending data to the APIs server. It should never be vice-versa. Creating a mess with the well-established standard for RETSTful API design will provide you and your developers a major headache.

3. Use of service layers

Within API design, service layers are interfaces that offer methods that other clients can use. These layers need not be a class. It can also turn to be in the form of publically exposed functions.

These layers can also be useful for those who design APIs. These layers can permit an API designer to test the logic of the application without interfering in its access.

4. Establishment of data validation rules

The pattern of this design is meant for verifying whether the value of a data item is in line with the acceptable values of APIs. For discovering whether the value is acceptable, you need to make the establishment of a set of values for the data that the system will process.

You can take the example of the API that is designed for e-commerce. An API, which is for making an order for products does not allow the user to input 0 in the field for product quantity.

A site that bears an age restriction for access must ask the users for their age and not permit a value below that. You need to remember that all instances of the rule that are broken merit their message errors for sending to the users.

Summing Up

So, these were the four API designs that are immensely practical and developers can adapt for themselves. You need to adhere to these with others that other API designers have released.

This can help you in creating a solid, functional, and user-friendly API product. Lastly, you need to be confident about your design process because you have got various numbers of tools at blueprint at your side.

So, stop worrying or panicking and start working for the best!