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August 28th, 2019 ×

How to Build an API

Wes Bos

Wes Bos Host

Scott Tolinski

Scott Tolinski Host

or
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode, Scott and Wes talk about creating APIs — what's happening behind the scenes and why it's important.

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Show Notes

2:15 - How do you build an API from scratch?

3:54 - Choose an API type

8:15 - Setup some sort of server that will accept requests and send responses

11:11 - Document the endpoints

  • What is the end point
  • What parameters are required
    • Filters
    • Sorting
  • Headers required
  • What you get back when you hit this endpoint
  • Any request limits
  • Examples in common languages
    • JS
    • PHP
    • Ruby

21:20 - Naming

  • Make it obvious

27:39 - Securing

32:42 - Protecting

36:00 - Write resolvers

  • Modify data if needed
  • Send back the data requested
  • Send back the correct HTTP code
  • Log what happened

37:56 - Tools

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