jnv reviewed Design and Build Great Web APIs by Mike Amundsen
Review of 'Design and Build Great Web APIs' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Overall this is a great introduction to the specifics of API development for people with some development experience. Particularly the parts about API design are extremely useful. The common practice for developers is to either jump straight into code or to OpenAPI spec, but the author suggests to start with much higher level approach, resulting in much deeper understanding of API users' needs.
In the development part, author shows his “DARRT” framework to structuring the code base, which is truly refreshing – I wish there were more resources on this approach.
Muy biggest issue with this book is ironically that it's maybe too much hands on in some parts and about a third of it feels like a tutorial for various SaaS products and developer tools (e.g. how to use git, npm, Apiary, SwaggerHub…). But I understand why it was necessary and these parts are easily skipped.
In summary, I'd …
Overall this is a great introduction to the specifics of API development for people with some development experience. Particularly the parts about API design are extremely useful. The common practice for developers is to either jump straight into code or to OpenAPI spec, but the author suggests to start with much higher level approach, resulting in much deeper understanding of API users' needs.
In the development part, author shows his “DARRT” framework to structuring the code base, which is truly refreshing – I wish there were more resources on this approach.
Muy biggest issue with this book is ironically that it's maybe too much hands on in some parts and about a third of it feels like a tutorial for various SaaS products and developer tools (e.g. how to use git, npm, Apiary, SwaggerHub…). But I understand why it was necessary and these parts are easily skipped.
In summary, I'd recommend this book even to experienced developers who think they know how to design an API.
