What’s your latest metaphor for APIs?
This question came up yesterday in the Future of APIs podcast hosted by TIBCO and made me think what would my answer be.
It is:
APIs are conduits that let ‘value’ flow from an origin to a point of consumption.
No API = Tank with juice but you need to open the lid and get the juice out with a mug.
API (product) First = Making sure that your tank has juice (value) which people care about and making sure it’s easy to access it through the pipes.
API (design) First = Thinking about the design of the conduits and experience of consumers. Makes sense when the tank has juice that people care about. Flops when conduits are great but tanks are empty or filled with worthless stuff.
Gateway = Taps/valves
Portal/docs = Labels/description
In summary:
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Great juice + great pipe = Winner
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Great juice + not so great pipe = Still stands a chance
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No juice + great pipe = Non starter (All the organizations out there whose API strategy is purely technical / infra related in nature)
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Great juice + no pipe = Lost opportunities
For God’s sake 🙏:
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Don’t build pipes without having / knowing the juice that will flow. Having a pipe in place will not magically make the juice appear in the tank. No it won’t.
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Don’t keep value locked (when you have it) by not building pipes. You need pipes (APIs).
Saying it in style:
“If you have APIs, they better have juice.
If you have juice, they better have APIs.”