The Business Value of a Good API
summary
Covers why APIs are business assets by defining an API as the non‑private interface of a library and linking software capital vs technical debt to measurable costs—606 significant software failures in 2017, and studies showing ~26% of developer time spent reproducing/fixing bugs. Lists concrete quality criteria: readability, understandability, conceptual integrity, mnemonic consistency, testability, documentation, stability and performance. Recommends an iterative process: CI, scenario‑based design, use‑your‑own‑API, clear deprecation policy and measurable acceptance criteria to reduce debt and increase reuse.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Start
- 3:14Software Failures
- 12:17What is an API?
- 17:40Reasons to Use Create a Good API
- 19:36Reasons to Avoid Using an API
- 23:20Building an API is Different than Building an Application
- 31:08Dimensions of Technical Debt
- 34:35Causes of Technical Debt
- 41:19Software Entropy Symptoms
- 54:01On Clean Code - Elegance
- 59:54Characteristics of a Bad API - General
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