What is API First?

API First is very much linked to strategy and how you want to merge your business model with the emerging technology model. To think about API First, you really have to start thinking about your business. How are you reimagining your business? If you have a new business, what is that business going to look like?

For most companies, you are going to think of that in terms of creating a digital platform where you can take your world-class products and services and make them consumable. You might also think about how you want to extend your products out so that you can make them all easier to work with.

This is where API First comes in.

Why API First?

There is a lot of confusion around “What is API First,” how is it different from “API First Design,” and how all this fits into the Full API Lifecycle Management process. API First takes the view of your business as capabilities, with products and services that you are going to deliver. Using API First, you would then be able to imagine those as a set of API Products or APIs working together to get the data, provide the access, and make it secure.

This is the API First way. Instead of starting by building the applications or looking for backend systems of record, you start with API First. This can be a big strategic move for an organization.

The API-first approach: prioritizing APIs

The most farsighted companies take an API-first approach to their software development. Before writing a single line of code, developers, in partnership with the business, first design or build the API. This ensures the underlying app can seamlessly connect with internal and external applications. Doing so expands the app's capabilities and makes it accessible to partners and end-users.

Being API-first means prioritizing the APIs that support your application and focusing on the value they can deliver to your business, rather than just scrambling to deliver a single application and creating an API as an afterthought. This forward-thinking approach allows the application to be adopted by different parts of the business for multiple uses, through the API.

APIs are not one-and-done projects. APIs are key building blocks that need to be maintained and improved. Companies are recognizing this and building teams to support it.

Top Stages of API Lifecycles

1. Designing and planning your APIs

2. Creating your APIs

3. Securing your APIs
4. Documenting your APIs
5. Testing your APIs
6. Versioning your APIs
7. Deploying or Publishing your APIs
8. Monetizing your APIs
9. Observing and Managing your APIs
10. Scaling your APIs
11. Making your APIs Discoverable
12. Retiring (or Sunsetting) your APIs

Throughout the Full API Lifecycle Management process, you will view your APIs through the lens of your business strategy.