What is an API and how do you design it? 🗒️✅
An API or application programmable interface is a software contract that defines the expectations and interactions of a piece of code exposed to external users. This includes the parameters, response, errors, and API name.
We discuss how to design an API and what it takes to make the design scalable, extensible, and easy to use. HTTP APIs are widely used in software systems. HTTP is a stateless protocol, and systems often expose APIs using it.
00:00 Who should watch this?
00:13 What is an API?
01:41 Best Practices
02:22 Naming APIs
02:43 Define Parameters
03:29 Define Response Objects
05:02 Define Errors
06:22 HTTP Endpoints
07:47 GET vs. POST
09:10 Side Effects
12:09 Pagination
13:51 Data Consistency
15:11 Thank you!
Recommended system design video course:
interviewready.io
Along with video lectures, this course has architecture diagrams, capacity planning, API contracts, and evaluation tests. It's a complete package.
References:
/ building-services-at-a...
swagger.io/docs/specification...
Designing Data-Intensive Applications - amzn.to/2yQIrxH
System Design Playlist: • System Design for Begi...
You can follow me on:
Facebook: / gkcs0
Quora: www.quora.com/profile/Gaurav-...
LinkedIn: / gaurav-sen-56b6a941
Пікірлер: 409
Atomicity means that operations must complete or fail as a whole unit. In case anyone was wondering.
@matthayden1979
Жыл бұрын
That's proactiveness that most of the managers looks for
@William_Clinton_Muguai
7 ай бұрын
Also known as: the all-or-nothing property!
@Gaurav, we should not return list as a response to an API, and should return an object instead. that helps when we need to add a new variable in the response. In that case clients won't break. Say in your example, in the future, if I wanted to add a new variable like "String resonseStatus" along with List, I can't really do that without making change in clients. But if I already returned an object, I could add any number of new variables to accommodate in the future.
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
That's a great point, thanks!
@KeremSahin1
5 жыл бұрын
I don't totally agree with this approach. Yes, as an API definer, things will get easy for you. However, your consumer should still migrate to the new API version. By returning object as a response, you are saving yourself from changing the contract every time, however you are reducing the clarity of your contract and need to tell a lot in the documentation. I would prefer changing the API contract every time I make a backward incompatible change.
@vyshnavramesh9305
5 жыл бұрын
gud one, but I see Swagger is using list instead.....?
@adipratapsinghaps
5 жыл бұрын
You make so much sense
@marvelindian1200
5 жыл бұрын
I think there should not be any problem if we are returning JSON object or using GRPC
So happy I found this channel!!!!! This is the next level interview prep material. I was focusing on the main, most important topics to study, more language based questions then I started getting System Level questions and didn't have a good explanation until I started watching these videos. The funny part is that I knew most this stuff, but I just drew a blank when asked. I hope to get through the playlist before my next interview!
@gkcs
3 жыл бұрын
Welcome aboard!
Hi Gaurav - just to clarify the following 1. APIs can expose only "public" methods ( not protected or private methods ) 2. it is a good idea to minimize payloads sent in request objects via POST ( use GET instead ), and sending the routing information or action information in the JSON request payloads makes for dirty APIs.
Loved the video... I really felt like i was talking to u and u were reading my thoughts as u were clearing all the doubts. Great One 👋👋
Thank you for this video, Guarav. Extremely helpful and I love your explanations. This has been a great resource as I prepare for an upcoming systems design interview.
Hi Gaurav, you are brilliant at explaining tech stuff. Absolutely love your videos. Really appreciate it! Thanks a ton.
Thanks for explaining the application programmable interface. This content is helpful for understanding the structure of an API. Insightful and thought provoking😊
I think RESTful APIs should work on Resource (in this case Group). We use certain HTTP verbs (e.g. GET, POST, PUT) to manipulate that resource. So the URL of API should be like this: GET /api/v1/groups//admins Notice the resources are in pluralize form (groups, admins, employees). So if we want to get a details for specific admin, we can just append the adminId as well. (GET /api/v1/groups//admins/) Optionally API could expect pagination, limit from URL GET parameters as well... like (?page_no=2&limit=20) PS: Also most people use version in the beginning of URL. e.g. /api/v1/.
@grunze
4 жыл бұрын
Exactly what i was thinking. Use nouns instead of verbs while designing Rest APIs. The actions are already defined by the types.
@jakol4u
4 жыл бұрын
Also field filter reduces the payload in response, that way caller can decide what he needs.
@Khangress
4 жыл бұрын
Saved me from commenting. 2nd that absolutely.
@gautamtyagi8846
3 жыл бұрын
ABSOLUTELY WELL SAID! THAT'S WHAT I NOTICED, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED NOUN INSTEAD.
Hi Gaurav, First of all a big thanks to you sharing these neat and clean, content rich videos. It helped me a lot to clear some of the key concepts which I use on day to day basis. Finally I wish you all the best and I would say "YOU GOT A NEW SUBSCRIBER"!!!😊👍
Wow wow wow, your way of speech delivery is too fluent, I just love that
thank you so much!! 4 years later this is still so helpful! im glad i found your videos!
@gkcs
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!
Really clear explanation - thank you! :)
Great video Sir as always! Thank you so much.
Hey gaurav, great seeing your videos, Wish someone taught me during my interview days, I remember some design questions I was asked - URL shortener, Web crawler and proximity servers(Yelp). You should definitely do these, I personally ask a few when I interview :P
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
Your video is very helpful. Keep posting good content.
Great video again. Good to see discussion on consistency here. Couple of comments. If the data is huge and if we are going to use IP fragmentation, then typically it is transparent to the application developer. Also it might have been interesting to get your perspective on handling partial success in the API, say for setAdmins, it set admins for the first 3, the 4 user id does not exist/not member of the group, how does it signal error. Thanks
@HemanthHemu
Жыл бұрын
Hi Hemanth, the response can be a complex object, in which there is a list of objects. Each object carrying information about each user. Using this way, we can give information on processing status of d admin. { AdminsProcessingStatus: [ { ISetASAdmin : true, ActionTaken : ExistingGroupMemberSetAsAdmin/AddedToGroupSndSetAsAdmin } ] }
Thanks.. searching a lot for a similar thing from a long time
Good to see a বাঙালী teaching code 😊👍 subscribed 🤟🏻
Nice video, with excellent communication. Keep up the good work. Appreciated !!
the kind of clarity you have while explaining clears up the mess in my brain.. thanks gs
@gkcs
Жыл бұрын
Happy to help!
The best way to design an API for designers is to start with the foundation. The foundation is where most developers get it wrong, from my experience. Everything starts with the why. A simple yet crucial question that one should ask. The why for doing something, triggers multiple conversations that span the user journey, business objective, data contract, data governance, compatibilities, and lastly the use case. Another really good thing I have noticed with a well-defined API is that it also makes you understand if the procurement of data is truly vital or not, thus, helping in prioritizing API A over B. If this API is only relevant to a very low amount of stakeholders, do I really want to design it? The rest are just bells and whistles.
Loved it! Thanks a lot
There are only 2 types of explanation for complex Computer Science concepts in this world: - The one you had in universities which you don't understand sh*t. - The one provided by an Indian engineer on KZread that would enlighten you in 15 min. Thanks a lot man !
Awesome, I like it very much I appreciated. Wow the hint on fragmentation.
As a Database Developer, I see similar principles and terminology applies to API design as well. As they say, the more you know, the more things seem the same. Cool video bro.
The one we've been waiting for
This guy is the real MVP!
This is what I was looking for! Thank you!
Awesomest Video! That's so insightful.
Thanks Gaurav. 6:44 shouldn't it be called as "controller" rather "model" ?
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Yeah I might have messed up the terms a bit :/
Real value education ! Thanks bro !
an API is just a function...wow such a beautiful straightforward definition. I was confused since a week and everywhere they were just saying the things like "it is an interface to connect two software systems", "it is a set of rules and protocols" etc. but no was saying actually explaining it in terms of programming. But Gaurav sir, you just helped me to get through its heart as what it actually is at its core. Thank you so much for relieving my week's pain and confusion. Since it is a function that only care about "what" that is, it hides the abstractions so I'm assuming that it is an higher level function which calls the specific part/module of the system to get the work done and once the tasks is done, it compose the response (generally as an object) and return it.
@adarshxd6274
2 ай бұрын
api isn't a function but an interface (at least not in java). They're like contracts written for achieving abstraction similar to abstract classes but their purpose is generally for abstracting functions. Read about interfaces to understand.
Some of the ideas are covered in "Clean Code" & "Clean Architecture", nice vid!
Just a small technical clarification.. the whole URL has components called URI - first part is the server address (mapped to a server somewhere using the IP address and port number), after that comes the individual context resources. Instead of model (the URI that comes after server address), let's say context for the actual resource. The next part(s) are the actual requested resources, which consist the name of the api method, and any parameters if present.
Bro you are too good...!!! Keep it up.. Will be waiting for you further videos..
Good explanation. I may use some of this logic explanation on my channel. Thank you
great explanation even though i know all of it...great going .....learnt some too
As always, good explanation!
Great video man. Is there more product design (API Design) videos out there? I wasn't able to find much.
excellent as always
You are very motivating. Best of luck for more challenges
You are doing a great job!!
Really helpful Gaurav! Thanks
A very effective one. Thanks Mr. Gaurav.
Nice explanation mate
Very well explained. Can you also have session to cover various types of API?
@Gaurav, I really enjoyed this video and I feel like I learned a lot in short amount of time! Thank you for taking the time to create this valuable content!
@gkcs
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you 😁
Hi @Gaurav,, Can you tell how it is different to make APIs for Web and for Mobile apps? Should we use mobile approach and assume "one size fits all " theory or should there be different API design approach for Web or Mobile ?
I instantly subscribed you because how confident your voice is
@gkcs
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!
thank you so much for giving this video it is very usefull
Great video. Please keep posting such videos.
Wish you 100K Soon #GKCS Keep up the good work
Gaurav, First of all, thanks for the wonderful videos you have put up for the show..... I request you to make a video on bulk action like adding million people to a group or sending mail to all existing users in one shot.... this is the feature we want to add to our product but not able to find an apt approach or sol for it......
Wonderful in details API design !! Would have been great to include Bulk APIs on large dataset as well.
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks! I'll try and talk about this in a future video 😁
great video. very useful information.
Thanks for the great vid!
Hi Gaurav, can you make a video on Security: Oauth2, Jwt, OpenId, Saml, Basic, Digest, SSO, Social sign in. There are plenty on youtube individually but none has all these as a whole describing use cases and differentiating each other
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Sometime in future :)
Hi Gaurav, Can you please explain the fragmentation part . May be in a separate video
Thanks Gaurav, you’re the real deal 👍
@gkcs
4 жыл бұрын
😁
Thanks for the great video Gaurav. Just a suggestion that can you please add some reference links on the video link like you were adding in the system design series video earlier. It will be really helpful when we want to go more in-depth of the topic in consideration. Thanks once again
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
True, thanks! Doing that now.
Nicely explained helpful video ❤️
Api design always starts from defining the resource url. Then you move towards defining the api spec and so forth... its called model first or api first approach.
Can you please share a flask setup to create an API like Django, means to say URLs &. Views in separate files
Thanks for great video. What is the difference between pagination and fragmentation.?
Totally understood the thing with one sentence in the beginning
@gkcs
4 жыл бұрын
😁👍
Even the design of this video is excellent -- like it's already at 1.5x Playback speed.
@IanRichardArko
3 жыл бұрын
I went to speed it up, but then I realized that it was already perfect!
This is pure gem ❤
Nice summary
Hello Gaurav, could u please give me a link about the API fragmentation please? Cuz i can't find one corresponding to what you described. Thank you in advance. I really like your videos :D
Regarding how to solve the 'number of admins' changed, you can subscribe to group chat changes. You can subscribe to 'participants changed' event same as 'new message' event and etc. You must not query admins if you have them up-to date all the time.
*Phenomenal video!*
You are awesome mate!!!!Love your videos
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
Another great lesson 🙏
@gkcs
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks 😊
@Gaurav, it was a nice & Brief Explanation
Hey Gaurav, Nice explanation of good practices for API design and I totally agree with the thing nirupam pointed out . I see that many people down in comments of your videos often ask for content that you have previously completed. It is just a suggestion to start adding related videos' links to the description and calling them out through the video. You can also use overlay popups of youtube that other youtubers use extensively. Will just save you some redundancy in questions. Thanks
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks Avneesh! You are right, I can put them up better. They also need to make an effort though. If they can't Google search or read the video description before posting a comment, it's a hopeless cause of them :P
@sdfg204
5 жыл бұрын
@@gkcs I am with you on that, just a little effort goes a long way for in depth understanding. Also depends a lot on one's curiosity and interest in said topic. But its mainly for your own convenience to reduce your effort of giving them a link everytime such a question arises.
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
@@sdfg204 True, thanks!
For breaking the record, starting to watch you again, full fledge! :D
@gkcs
3 жыл бұрын
Welcome back!
YOur Channel is Awesome. Thanks for such Videos!!! :)
In 39 seconds this boy explains "what is an api" in a way i wish my mentors had done. KISS..
good explanation!
good stuff gaurav, it was very well explained. the only thing is the speed. I had to bring it down to 0.75x and listen it. If you can adjust the tone fast and slow at times, it will go a long way
Thank you very much for the tutorial. Could you please add subtitle as well?
Which one would be better approach... getting lots of information in a single call using joins or getting small pieces of information by multiple call of different apis? My main concern is server and database load.
Explained well....Also It would be great if you share some real time test case using any Rabbit MQ kind or Messaging platform!
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Maybe next time 😁
@Karmihir
5 жыл бұрын
@@gkcs Thnak You 😊
Hi, thank you so much for your help! If possible, please can you make a video about the Lemke Howson Algorithm (Game Theory) and how to do all of the steps for two 3x3 payoff matrices. Would really appreciate your help in drawing out the triangle simplex diagrams. Thank you. :)
sen u are awesome bro i want to design an api for my intern.How to do it? what other suggestions u have that i should do apart from coding?
very nice Sen Sahab.
What if we keep response processing on API gateway side and the rest on microservice? Any pros + cons? Thanks!
@Gaurav, when you described the handling of Large Responses, you talked about 2 things [i] Pagination, [ii] Fragmentation. Shouldn't we consider HATEOAS also as a viable option? It would make API more connected and take off the burden of a large response. Also, in case if an API is designed to perform any Bulk Operation lets say import, then what should be the correct way to design it?
@mohammedmuzzammil5960
2 жыл бұрын
Correct me if i am wrong but pagination is the thing that comes with hateoas right?
Can you please detail on fragmenting api
Hi Gaurav, thank you so much for this explanation! I have a question regarding setAdmins, what should the API response return if the one of the members of the group (admins parameter sent as a request) are already Admin or all the entire list of members of members are already Admins. Should we return 200 response? 10:08
Hi Gaurav I like the system design content that you have posted. Want a help in one question. Suppose you have to integrate an external third party product with say google maps. What are all security feature/ ways you will implement and also explain how?
Hi Gaurav. A software contract is translated in OOP as an Interface implementation?. Talking about side effect is related to functional paradigm. Is a good practice to mix OOP and functional programming?
I like the way you speak.
The sound quality has improved a lot, are you using a new mic?
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
Yup!
@Gaurav one suggestion I have is and maybe it's a very important part of API design is that the objects which the API returns should be different from the actual backend objects. The reason this is very important is because if you decouple these 2 things, its easy to change something in the returned object without actually modifying the underlying business object. Also can you please add a video on how pagination is done?
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
That's a good idea, something I have seen in my experience :) And I'll get to pagination in future videos :)
@mptreviews7035
Жыл бұрын
Can data transfer objects (DTOs) be used for this decoupling of objects. In C# context
Good one!!
Please make videos on Micro Services Architecture.
@gkcs
5 жыл бұрын
kzread.info/dash/bejne/o42ctNiBadewe9o.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/qKqcpZhtmLTAfc4.html
Can you post your thoughts on TDD