Architecture != API
A thought that has been rolling around in my head lately… APIs have an architecture but an architecture is
not an API. I have noticed the terms used ambiguously and in place of each other and this concerns me.
Josh Bloch gave an excellent talk on the importance of API design and how to design a good one, it can be seen at
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/effective-api-design .
He highlights…
- Companies becoming addicted to APIs
- APIs can become a serious liability, support headaches, etc.
- Public APIs are forever, you can add to them but you cannot effectively get rid of them
- This adds to the importance of getting a public API right the first time
- Some have a tendency to turn everything into a framework, this is not always good
- Agility Trumps Completeness
