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Becoming ‘API First’: Beyond the traditional application server architecture


By Mark O Neill


 Mark O Neill
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June 19, 2012 —  (Page 1 of 3)
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the application server? Today’s software development trends seem to point in that direction.

The traditional application server serves applications from the inside out. Developers develop Java apps based on classes housed in an app server. Then they are stuck with the API operations “helpfully” generated by the application server for each of the public methods of the application’s Java classes, regardless of how they actually wanted to design the API. To make matters worse, the APIs tend to be SOAP APIs, not using REST or JSON.

I’d like to propose an alternative “outside in” approach. In this approach, developers first design the API, which will be used to use their application. This is called “API First”; the API is the first part of the application to be designed. This is very different from having the API provided to you based on the structure of the Java classes used to implement the application. By adopting the API First mentality, organizations can reshape the traditional Web-server/application-server architecture by using lightweight client code combined with APIs and data sources hosted in public or private clouds. This API First model can deliver tremendous flexibility and lead to substantial cost savings over time.

Today’s trend toward mobile, social and the cloud is driving the emphasis on flexibility. It both requires and enables the API First approach. In this age of mobile and cloud computing, the API is how business is conducted. Mobile applications use REST and JSON mobile APIs to access enterprise data and services. Cloud-based services rely on APIs to integrate with on-premise applications and business processes. Business partners require APIs to exchange data and execute transactions. As developers today are increasingly aware, it’s much more straightforward to use a lightweight REST API if they want to deploy an application in a mobile device or in the cloud, or even in their own website. Frameworks such as Dojo make this choice simple.

Having an API delivery platform is central to the API First strategy. Mobile APIs are exposed to larger and more diverse populations of developers and applications. They consequently are exposed to higher levels of operational and security risks. To guarantee good availability and user experience, IT must have security, control and monitoring capabilities as part of its mobile API delivery platform.


Related Search Term(s): APIs

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Comments


06/21/2012 03:01:28 PM EST

What you're describing sounds remarkably similar to SOA.

United StatesPhil


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