api

Articles

man bending over backwards Create an Agile DevOps Environment That Fosters Flexibility over Features

When a company makes the move from software as a service (SaaS) to an API-first platform, a change in mindset is required. The successful transitions come from those who shift from features to flexibility. Technology teams should look to remove constraints and broaden the possibilities of their platform by constantly exploring ways to make their platform as flexible as possible.

Steve Davis's picture Steve Davis
Question mark cursor Critical Questions to Ask When Choosing a Third-Party API

This article exposes the risks and hidden costs involved in the seemingly innocent decision of which third-party APIs to use to gather and report data, offload critical functionality, and save implementation time. It addresses some typical reasons the decision-making process over third-party use is overlooked, as well as how to make good choices confidently and consistently.

Paul Bruce's picture Paul Bruce
APIs Require Integrity SOA Was Built on Trust, but APIs Require Integrity

With SOA, the services you consume are typically developed by your organization or a close business partner, so you can assume they have standards similar to your own. But when you adopt APIs, you usually have no visibility into how solidly the services were built—or when and how they are evolving. How should you properly vet an external API?

Integration Products Expectations Industry Expectations for Today’s ESB-Based Integration Products

Most organizations have accepted the commercial benefits of using enterprise service bus-based integration products in their software projects. However, the industry expectations for an ESB product are ever increasing. This article will explain how vendors are trying to cope with the demand.

Sanat Singha's picture Sanat Singha

Interviews

A Closer Look at API Testing: An Interview with Ole Lensmar
Video

TechWell's Noel Wurst got the chance to sit down with Ole Lensmar, Chief Architect at SmartBear. Ole discussed the differences between unit and API testing, the importance of choosing the best testing methods, and the benefits of reusing test assets.

Noel Wurst's picture Noel Wurst

Conference Presentations

STARCANADA 2019 Advanced Principles of API Testing | Part 2
Slideshow

Part 2: Come learn how to put together the advanced concepts of an API test in a framework that is scalable, robust, and easy to read and eliminates the brittleness in your checks.

Varuna Srivastava
STARCANADA 2019 API Testing Is Critical—Here's How to Do It Right
Slideshow

You will learn how to use a variety of different tools and frameworks to simplify API testing, with practical samples testing real applications, plus hear some horror stories about when good APIs turn bad.

Adam Sandman
Advanced Principles of API Testing | Part 1
Slideshow

Come learn how to put together the advanced concepts of an API test in a framework that is scalable, robust, and easy to read and eliminates the brittleness in your checks.

Varuna Srivastava
STARWEST 2018 What's an API and How Do I Test It?
Slideshow

API-based applications have become ubiquitous in the past few years. Yet many of us still really don't know what an API is from the inside out. Moreover, many of us don't know much about how to comprehensively test them! Join Paul Merrill to learn what everyone is doing and talking about, related to APIs: microservices, REST, endpoints, requests, request methods, and responses. Paul demonstrates four free tools you can use to directly interact with a simple API: curl, the browser, Postman, and Java (with Rest Assured). Learn techniques for testing APIs at the service level and how to test APIs faster with greater coverage and quicker test automation. Walk away with an understanding of what JSON is, how APIs use JSON, and how to go about verifying that it is correct. With new knowledge and skills, you’ll do a better testing job and give more valuable feedback to the API designers and developers.

Paul Merrill

CMCrossroads is a TechWell community.

Through conferences, training, consulting, and online resources, TechWell helps you develop and deliver great software every day.