API modeling is a breakdown of how an API design will look in order to establish better communication procedures before designing the API. API modeling assists designers in answering some critical questions that appear to be the core of the design in the long run. Questions such as why my API exists, what problems it wants to answer, and what solution I am providing to my users.
The Process Involved in API Modeling
1. Identify the audience for your API
Determining who will use your API is the first step in API modeling. Participants, performers, or users are some other names for them. APIs, in contrast to user interfaces, may be utilized both directly by developers and covertly by end users. Understanding the needs of both sides is crucial. The diverse applications and gadgets that could use our API in various ways are another thing we need to consider. We might want to be a little more explicit when identifying active users accessing the API. Instead of just naming developers as participants, we could want to make a distinction between internal developers, operations engineers, and external developers. The same is true for differentiating end users, regular users, account administrators, and system administrators because they all utilize different techniques and expect different results when using your API.
2. Determine the desired outcomes
More than your expensive database or the fine method your code was designed, your end users are interested in the outcomes that your API makes attainable. Your users need answers to questions. Always remember that they want a problem solved. If your model can’t solve the problem then it is an issue.
3. Sketch out the processes necessary to obtain these results.
To obtain the desired outcomes a sketch of how these results will be obtained is necessary. This sketch will fuel each stage. Decomposing results into discrete phases necessitates a deeper comprehension of how your API will address practical issues and solve problems. Make sure to include a subject matter expert (SME) in your API modeling approach because this knowledge is typically reserved for SMEs.
4. Define your API model
You will see the emergence of an API once all the processes have been recognized. Resources and actions will be the components of this API. As we begin the process of designing an API, we may group these to begin identifying the resources and actions that we will require. Just keep in mind that, before going on to the more involved process of API design, the purpose of this phase is to merely capture the APIs and methods to confirm your API needs. Different resources will be discovered in this step like creating a new project, finding a new project, etc. Take note of how our actions and results are assisting us in locating the resources connected to our API. They also assist us in visualizing how the API will be used, giving us a suggestion as to how our ultimate API design might appear. Just keep in mind that these are only potential resources; we might not require all of them or we could require ones that we haven’t yet discovered. Making a rough draft of our API before doing the more difficult task of mapping it to HTTP and constructing it is the goal of API modeling.
5. Validate your API model
Validating your API against well-known requirements is the last stage in the modeling process. Your responsibility is to guarantee that your API will satisfy the needs of every user, much like a good quality assurance (QA) team. Verify that your API model can satisfy the indicated demands by using wireframes, user stories, test cases, and other criteria. Look for missing participants, outcomes, and steps when you validate your APIs. Additionally, you might wish to make a note of APIs that depend on others or that might be heavily used. Even though it’s not required, this might help you make confident decisions when you enter the design and development phases.
The Goal of API Modeling
The goal of API modeling is to transform the specifications of a product into the fundamentals of high-level API architecture. API modeling guarantees that the objectives of developers and end users are met.