If you are looking to become a software developer or are already one, chances are that you have come across a developer or an API portal. These two are one and the same thing and have a very important function – to offer information about the APIs associated with the portal for developers to find it easy to use the APIs. The developer portal is very important in the life of a software developer who works with APIs when building applications.

Before we get started with the developer portal, let us talk about APIs. APIs (Applications Programming Interfaces) can be defined as a set of instructions that dictate interactions and sharing of information between applications. For example, if you are building an application that needs to have a maps functionality, you can implement an API with such functionality, such as the Google Maps API, instead of building your application from scratch. This, apart from making your work easier, allows you to deliver your software applications faster.

API Developer Portal

So, what is an API developer portal? The API developer portal serves as an intermediary between an API client or consumer and the API provider. It offers all the information that one would want to know with regards to using an API. RapidAPI gives good examples of developer portals, together with features that come with each one of them.

Most API developers make sure that their API portals can be found easily, to ensure that developers looking for them do not have to struggle. Looking at a developer portal, one is able to find the following;

  • The API itself.
  • Detailed documentation on how to use the API.
  • All the API keys that are required to use the API.
  • Dates for the release of new versions and deprecation of others.

One of the main objectives of the API developer portal is to encourage adoption and innovation by other developers looking to use the API. That explains the reason why the portal ensures that there is clear communication around the API, making it easy for developers to implement it.

What Should You Look for in an API Developer Portal?

One of the main metrics that can be used to measure how successful a developer portal is, is communication. This is because the API developer portal should be able to tell other developers and API consumers everything about the API, including ways through which it can and cannot be used. If a developer portal does not provide this, then it means that API consumers are most likely to run into problems and might not implement the API properly. 

Developer portals are designed differently, depending on the specific needs of the API associated with them. For instance, a recruitment tool using an API might be difficult to use and have complicated hurdles that developers need to get through compared to a Facebook API. This might be caused by the sensitive data that the recruitment API holds. 

On the other hand, the Facebook API might come with more restrictions such as limitations on the number of calls that can be made due to the large amounts of data that go through it. This shows that API requirements are different, and developers need to make sure that these differences are clearly stated in the API developer portal.

Finally, it is important to make sure that your API developer portals have the following characteristics;

  • Value Statement of the API: Here, you need to provide information about the API that you are offering, how the API works, and why a developer should implement it instead of all the other alternatives available.
  • Getting Started: After going through the value statement of the API, a developer might get interested. This means that they would like to implement the API. A good developer portal should, therefore, provide well-detailed documentation that is easy to access and follow on how a developer can get started with using an API.

With such features, API owners will see an improved adoption of their APIs. They will also make things easier for developers, who will, in turn, release new software to the market faster, addressing the end-user demands seamlessly and without any difficulties.  

 

Authored by Ron Evan, Linkbuilder