Reaching 1 Million APIs and what to do when we get there

Steven Willmott

http://www.3scale.net

6000 APIs on Programmable Web Today

1million APIs by 2017?

Probably 4-5x that number out there100% Annual Growth

Topics

• Getting to 1 Million APIs• The “Millionth” API• Things we’ll need when we get there

Preliminaries

Took 6 years to go from 1 Web Site to 1 Million

~ approx May 1997

Big Step Changes in Web Growth

Text >> CGI >> PHP >> Geocities & Co…

Today’s API World is “Artisan”

Craft rather than a science

(sidenote : check out the excellent api-craft mailing list / managed by Apigee)

Artisan is Good but…

• Expensive • Doesn’t scale • Fragile• Every API is Different and works in

unexpected / suprising ways

To Grow, the Web Automated

APIs are starting to do

the same?

API “Mass Production”

How to reach 1 Million APIs

Two Key Trends in API Automation

1. Code Frameworks

2. Hosted Platform Environments

1: Code Frameworks

• APIs for Free• Or by Default • Much easier to write

APIs • APIs are much more

standard

• Big Adoption Driver

JAX-RS

2: Platforms

• The Web is build on platforms:

• API Platforms are emerging– Mobile backends– Infochimps– Factual– 3scale, Apigee, Mashery– …

• And web platforms are going API

Impact of Mass Production

No doubt we have the capacity to create as many APIs are Web sites…

Commercial pull is almost unbounded – B2B, Mobile, HTML5

are all major drivers

The Millionth API

Micro View

What was Millionth Web Site?

(Donald Rumsfeld might call it a known unkown)

Launched in May 1997

• Belvidere, NJ• Barnes and Noble• Thousands More..

"I'm very excited for it," Mayor Linda Stettler said. "Belvidere is moving in the right direction."

http://www.belvidere-nj.us/

The Millionth API?

Don’t know much about it yet but…

But we can guess some things

• Niche• Probably in the United States• Probably in the “non-tech” economy • Probably powered by a platform• Probably launched by a small company or

individual

Few Technical Changes are really needed…

We’re way ahead of where the Web was

API Anatomy

IAAS: Cloud Deployed

PAAS: Cloud Managed

App Framework: e.g. Drupal

Code: e.g. PHP

API Pattern: e.g. REST (++)

Identity & Auth: e.g. oAuth

Data Models: Standardized

Code Libraries: Auto Generated

Meta Data: Publically Listed

But most technical change will driven by dealing with the sheer number of APIs

Dealing with Millions

Macro View

Topics

1. Discovery2. Selection3. Reuse4. Engagement5. Monitoring

#1: Discovery

• Q: Where are all the service descriptions?

• A: Not quite there yet…

Discovery

API

Google Discovery

Format

(Also see SWAGGER, WADL)

Discovery

API

Who Provides ItFunctionality Offered

Data Models UsedPerformance Parameters

SLAs and Guarantees

Cost and Terms…

Description must be locatable

Discovery

API

• New Formats needed• But also adoption and

linking/indexing

#2: Selection

• Amongst million APIs - how do you know which ones to trust?

• On the Web:– Domains– SSL– Brand Visuals– Google/Alex Rankings

API

API

API

API

API

Selection

• In an API World many of these don’t work (e.g. no browser SSL root certs)

• Need: – 3rd party monitoring & ranking– Transparency by providers– “Web of Trust” for APIs

• Identity of providers just as much an issue as that of users

API

API

API

API

API

#3: Reuse

?

• Today: – Semantics are HTTP, REST

Principles, MIME Data Types, Developer Intuition

– Operational Semantics baked into client code

• This is like writing a new browser for every website

(we’re getting pretty good at writing them – but hey, it’s still dumb!)

Huge Barrier to Re-usability

Reuse – Two Big Trends

? 1. Better Specifications

2. Convergence

Reuse - Specifications

?

• More Rigid Semantics• Data Ontologies • Interlinking Ontologies• HATEOS Principles for

explorationSpec

Principle: use derivation from primitives to write / generate code

Reuse - Convergence

?

• Similar Interfaces and Logical Choices

• Conventions• Already Happening• Platforms will be a huge driver• How to Foster Good

Conventions?

Principle: stick to conventions to help people use your stuff

Y

X

But… – what happens if you can copyright interfaces?

Need: interface commons

#4: Engagement

API

• Today: – http://developer.xyz.com/– Agree Terms– Get Credentials– Write App– Get Stuff Done

• Frankly…

This is Nuts!

(at scale)

#4: Engagement

API

• Need to be able to: – Be able to discover the software

you need automatically– identify yourself and the provider– engage a service contract– generate credentials – begin using the service

• All without human intervention of any sort

#4: Engagement

All Contain elements Mostly Focus on Coordination

ebXML

Design By Contract

OWL-S

WSMO

BPML

Contract First

Open Grid Forum

Need a Focus on Simplified Contract Establishment

• Identity is Critical• Standard Terms are

Critical• APIs for Contracting• How to setup up API

usage with code rather than web interactions

#5: Monitoring

• Quality of Service Will be Key

• Using any API introduces an outside dependency

• More complex than Web Monitoring

• Like Distributed Integration Testing

API

API

API

API

APIX

X

Summary: Macro Issues

Discovery

Selection

Reuse

Engagement

Monitoring

Description FormatsDescription UsageDescription Referencing

Indicators of TrustIndicators of QualityIdentity

SpecificationsConvergence

IdentityCommon TermsSimple Protocols

TransparencyShared InfrastructureIntegration Like Testing

Closing Thoughts

Todays' APIs are very special – need unique, care and attention

But to get further we need to Automate – and deal with scale

Conclusions

• Platforms will begin to drive massive API growth

• Much of the challenge is in meta-data, discovery and engagement

• API Consumer will need just as much help as the API provider

• Need a new discipline – “Machine Interface Design”

Final Thought

• Today: we focus on making it easier for developers to use our APIs

• Tomorrow: we’ll need to make it easier for machines to use our APIs

Thank you & Q/A

steve@3scale.net@njyx, @3scale

http://www.3scale.net/

Credits

• Cover Image: appelogen.be / flickr of AI WeiWei’s sunflower exhibit at the Tate Modern, License CC.

• Anatomical Heart: wikimedia / wikipedia• API-CRAFT Mailing list:

https://groups.google.com/group/api-craft

Licenses

• Original Content:

• Included Images:

– Licensed terms determined by originator

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0