APIrelated

APIrelated is a term used to describe topics connected with application programming interfaces (APIs), the interfaces that enable software components to communicate. It encompasses the design, development, deployment, governance, and consumption of APIs. API-related work aims to create stable, scalable, and secure interfaces that enable integrations across systems, services, and organizations.

APIs come in several styles and protocols. RESTful APIs operate over HTTP using resources and standard verbs, often exchanging JSON. GraphQL provides flexible queries, while gRPC uses a binary protocol for high performance. SOAP remains in some enterprises. Documentation and contracts are commonly defined with OpenAPI, RAML, or AsyncAPI for event-driven systems.

Lifecycle and governance cover versioning, deprecation plans, backward compatibility, and cataloging. Security focuses on authentication and authorization, with OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and API keys. Traffic management includes rate limiting, quotas, and throttling. Observability involves logging, metrics, tracing, and dashboards to monitor reliability and usage.

Developer experience and tooling include API portals, interactive documentation, SDKs and client libraries, code samples, and testing tools. Contract testing, such as Pact, helps ensure that API providers and consumers stay in sync. API gateways and management platforms handle routing, security, and analytics at scale.

API-related practices underpin modern software architectures, enabling microservices, cloud platforms, partner integrations, and platform ecosystems. Common challenges include security and privacy, governance at scale, evolving specifications, and maintaining compatibility as services evolve.