For API Developers

How HTTP/2 & Protobuf Paved the Way for gRPC

with Raju Gurram In 2015, Google open-sourced a new RPC (remote procedure call) framework named gRPC.  The fact that this was built and adopted by the company that has one of the largest (if not the largest) ecosystem of microservices should speak volumes about its efficacy.  Google makes tens of billions of gRPC calls per […]

Modern API Description Formats

For many organizations, the days of undocumented APIs are mostly gone. There are now several formats used to describe APIs. These machine-readable files can be converted into documentation and even be used to test integrations. While there are several formats, the most well-known is OpenAPI. In this article, we’ll provide a highlight of that and […]

Kafka Integration with API Management

Kafka messaging busses are becoming more prevalent in today’s enterprises. In this video, I briefly discuss why, and then demonstrate integration with an API management solution (using Layer7 as the example – if you use a different API management solution, this will likely have differences).

The Most Common API Authentication Methods

Unless your API is a public feed of read-only data, you likely need authentication. There are many options you could choose, which may vary depending on your use case. However, it’s unlikely you’ll need to go out and create your own authentication method. Whenever possible, use a standard that is widely implemented. Otherwise, developers will […]

Three API Governance Patterns and How to Choose One

Most organizations maintain dozens or even hundreds of APIs. Maintaining consistency and avoiding redundancy quickly becomes a major issue. API governance helps organizations declare and adhere to guidelines for new and existing APIs. There are different approaches to encourage conformity in API design, including governance review and automated restrictions. In this post, we’ll explore both […]

The Longest Stage of the API Lifecycle

Right now someone is powering up an original iPhone. On their home screen, they’re tapping the icon for a 10 year old app. As it loads, it calls an endpoint that a development team would rather not maintain. For many APIs, a life of suspended animation is a big part of their story. In API […]

API Security in a Multi-Cloud Environment

In today’s app economy, more and more client interactions and transactions are occurring via the web and mobile applications, where predominantly APIs are been used for Information Exchange. Which enables modern enterprise to break the traditional barriers and expose their on-premises and cloud-based digital assets and applications to the outside world in a secure manner. […]

API Security Architect Certification

The new certification course for API Security Architect is now available. This is an in-depth, self-paced course, and by completing this course, you will be able to: Explain the unique security risks of APIs and identify typical areas of API vulnerabilities  Explain the purpose of OAuth 2.0 as a framework for authorization  Describe the current […]