AWS ReInvent: API Design takeaway

By | December 4, 2021

Following AWS Reinvent 2021 I’d like to share some of the golden nuggets I have taken away from the keynote regarding #apis

⁃ Primitives not frameworks (don’t build the kitchen sink, build small components)

⁃ Join small components to build larger complex systems

⁃ #APIs enable customer-centric innovation

⁃ Trying to create uniform APIs before you understand the product and how customers will use your #apis is risky

Dr Werner Vogels 6 principles regarding #apis

1. APIs are forever

2. Never break backward compatibility

3. Work backwards from customer use cases

4. Create APIs with explicit and well-document failure modes

5. Create APIs that are self-describing and have a clear, specific purpose (think of Google 555 rule where it should take 5 seconds for a developer to understand what an API does, 5 minutes to make a successful call and 5 days to go to production)

6. Avoid leaking implementation details at all costs

If you are a CTO, Solution Architect, Technical Architect Engineering manager or software engineer working with AWS or APIs I recommend you to go watch the keynote https://youtu.be/8_Xs8Ik0h1w

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