Exploring the Benefits of API-First Approach in Mobile/Web Application Development

Till now, the buzz was around the term mobile-first approach, but what is this new API-first approach. In this post, we will learn about this concept in detail and, its impact on the web application development/mobile application development.

What is API-First Development Strategy?

Before venturing more about the term ‘what‘, let us know ‘why‘?

It is a fact that, all applications in their development phase depends on APIs. Such dependencies are causing setbacks which are thus delaying the overall speed of the development process.

The logic is simple, the external dependency, well, to start with, these APIs are nothing but the external service sought by the programmers, and any possible disruptions the functionality of app will get affected.

Can one be possibly depending on such external service to keep their applications operational the whole time? This question will probably be the wake-up call that demands everyone to sit and take notice.

Let’s Begin about API-First Strategy

It’s common-sense that as a programmer you don’t have any leverage over the external APIs that you depend on. It’s truly an overwhelming fact, but should be accepted. Suppose, if one starts building his own API, in accordance to his requisites, well, how does it sound?

In simple words, API-first strategy is, ‘the action of developing an application, website, or a Saas software on keeping an API as the foundation‘.

The API-centric process is fast growing on every developer out there. And the approach, if you observe is somewhat similar to how you dealt with the concept of the mobile-first approach.

Good to know that API-first approach is not some baseless concept, and as a support to this account we have API Blueprint or Swagger, a markdown or syntax you can say.

API Blueprint & Swagger

If we advance deep into this concept, you will be enlightened to know that before being a part of an API-life cycle, one should definitely know something about the API blueprint and Swagger.

We have frameworks today surrounding us, assisting us greatly in the development of websites and applications. Now, in the name of API blueprint/swagger, we have frameworks for building an API.

‘From design to final deployment‘, one can easily proceed with flexibility in building an API.

API blueprint is a documentation-oriented, API description language for web APIs. While Swagger is one of the largest framework used in the development of an API.

API-Focused Development: The Key Advantages

Integration failures, well, your future will be free from that if API-focused development progresses more into our lives.

• Parallel Development
  • Any new changes during the application development, a synchronous cycle takes place where from the research team giving the new ideas, with the backend team working on it and finally, the front-end developers start working on the prototype and API provided.
  • It is sure a time-consuming process, but not anymore, with the API-first approach, parallel development is supported. Both the front-end and back-end developers can work laterally along with the mock APIs.
• Separation of Concerns
  • The term is nothing but the design principle, SoC deals with the overlaying of functionality issues in MVC architecture of software. In layman terms, just think that a separation has been made between the front-end and back-end.
  • Instead of all APIs handling the same operation, each API is separated and is assigned with multiple tasks.
• Dynamic Design
  • With APIs being implemented to each layer the addition of new functionalities becomes more easy and unrestrictive. Also, with such approach, it is possible for developers to go along with the scaling business requisites.