Manage your Public API Like a ProtocolDelyn SimonsVP Developer Platform, Mashery@delynator @mashery #df12 #devzone

What we hear from businesses 

“We need to speed up our product development cycle.”

“Our stock price is half what it was 10 years ago.”

“How can we jumpstart innovation throughout the company?”

“My CEO wants us to have an iPad app by the next board meeting.”

“We are having a difficult time recruiting engineers.”

What we hear from developers 

• “Documentation and examples. Give me those, keep them up to date and I'm happy.”

• “Version *every* change to your API, and version your docs the same way, so I always know which functionality I'm getting, and what it's really supposed to do.”

• “Keep your documentation up to date and in all reasonable instances provide a fucking library for common languages that has real production-ready code instead of some bullshit an intern wrote in an afternoon for a demo.”

• Credit: YourTrove Hacker News Developer Survey, August 2011

Open APIs: Growth is accelerating

ProgrammableWeb API directory7000 APIs and

Total APIs Over Time

8 years

18 months

9 months

4 months

6 months

Slide Courtesy of ProgrammableWeb

Slide Courtesy of ProgrammableWeb

How did we get here?

Think like a Product Think like a Platform

Device-centric Services-centric

OS Cloud

Hardware Content

Download Stream

Wired Magazine, Dec 2011

Developers change the game

Protocol: Communications

Definition: A system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems. A protocol definition defines the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication.

Examples: HTTP, FTP, TCP/IP, POP3, OAuth, OData, Atom/RSS, PubSubHubBub, OpenSocial

Credit: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Protocol: Diplomacy

Definition: a set of rules which guides how an activity should be performed and based on the principles of civility. These well-established and time-honored rules have made it easier for nations and people to live and work together.

Examples: Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, US State Dept. Office of the Chief of Protocol, United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.

Credit: International Association of Protocol Consultants and Officers.

The promise of a great API platform

… but unilaterally managed APIs often break the cycle

Manage your API like a ProtocolGenerous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Developer Products are Products, too

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Manage your API like a ProtocolGenerous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Developer Products are Products, too.

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Manage your API like a Protocol

Generous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Developer Products are Products, too.

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Manage your API like a Protocol

Generous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Developer Products are Products, too.

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Manage your API like a Protocol

Generous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Developer Products are Products, too.

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Manage your API like a ProtocolGenerous Terms of Service

Beautiful, well-maintained Docs/Code Samples

5 minutes > first API call

Release Products You are Proud of

Clear Versioning, Deprecation Policy

Deliver on the promise of a great API platform

Photo Credit: flickr.com/techcrunch

Treat your developers like stakeholders

Thank you!

Your feedback is a gift.

Delyn Simons@delynator, @mashery

#df12 #devzoneSeptember 2012