Things to Prevent the HTTP API 's When Reaching the App
Most of developers feel nervous about HTTP API ’s or related issues. This is because these are potential bombs that can destroy everything you build the system. It may make you are tired when entering the applications. Fortunately, you can handle this issue if you can realize how to avoid.
What is the REST and the difference between HTTP and REST?
REST is the Representational State Transfer, which is a set of many elements to assure that a system can run smoothly without having any trouble. The Word Wide Web is a popular example of this system. REST is not a new invention, but this is a new method to reach the application.
HTTP, on the other hand, stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, which is an approach to transfer files. To connect pages of hypertext in the Word Wide Web, HTTP will do it. However, there are other protocols like FTP and Gopher, but they are not common.
We may confuse HTTP API and the REST because they are like a couple. The Word Wide Web and the REST API run on similar systems, so we probably do not differentiate them. Nonetheless, the REST constraints cannot make the HTTP usage protocol mandatory. We ought to use other protocols like SNMP, SMTP, and API.
Please keep in mind that there is a huge difference between an HTTP API and a REST API. A RESTful API is a set of documentation in the Roy Fielding while an HTTP API is any API to support the HTTP can transfer the protocol.
SOAP is considered as an HTTP API because it also uses HTTP for transport. HTTP APIs are better than the infrastructure of HTTP and they can be the RESTful API.
4 common pitfalls in the HTTP APIs
Create or update database with GET or HEAD request
GET requests often have a primary convention, which has been opened to output the documentation. If you want to use the language of the web (HTTP), you will know how to take any action that everyone will be expecting.
Conflict with the internal system
An API system conflicts itself is the worst practice for all developers. For instance, adding a given user is successful in only paths like /user/{id} (e.g. http://www.example.org/user/1). However, the final result of an address with query params is another element /address?id={id}. This will lead to some problems in cost and server loadings in the users of APIs.
Having unavailable documents or behaviors
This fault is also popular in API calls, which can appear in different ways. Update a new user needs to have the user’s profile database in one system. The user’s database may appear in another place from similar API calls.
It could be a big issue if you update a user in another place of database which is not related.
For instance, if that user’s address has been changed, other addresses of the user will be updated automatically. Do you think so? You should not suppose it will happen! What will happen if we update their information from their credit cards? This is good news for hackers!
Getting a Pay user
HTTP resources are considered special sources to show the real information such as credit card, a user’s account, restaurant names, etc. In other words, they are nouns. This is not a standard decision of some developers, but they could expand their careers due to this pattern.
At the same time, they also should identify many worst resources in practice with a verb like downloadPDF and payUser. This is because those sources can affect the HTTP verb in an awful way. Then, many rooms are created for confusion.
How to avoid mistakes in APIs
When starting an object to be added in the API system, it is easy to transfer all elements of the object. The fact is that it is simpler to send the whole objects rather than to take into account of the exact properties in that system. Should we remove all or put some? Think of the situation where you own a user from the social media structure.
Imagine that you are making an API system and you have been asked to give the identifier of a user like their username and their avatar. Completing an object to the user of an API is simple because one person could also do it.
Perform upstream database and well-defined objects
By undertaking upstream database and well-defined objects, making a JavaScript is a suitable way to prevent potential problems when creating APIs. This is because several languages can get databases from a system and transferring it to a class instance. This step could not be necessary for some languages like Node.js and JavaScript.
Make sure that you ought to use similar Domain Objects via an API response. For instance, an API response might conflict with another user object while requesting a special user, or an array of user objects when creating a list of friends. When using the identical Domain Object in most of the consumer’s situations of the service, you may improve your databases in the internal representation.
Use ideal names
One of the most awful things you need to face in an API is reducing a breaking change. Please keep in mind that insert new fields to an object does not harm the system. Users can select to skip new fields. Nevertheless, change or remove a field might lose clients.
Modify changes and attributes
A popular pattern is that a big company will have a lot of services in the infrastructure, from C# to JavaScript and SQL. A front-end engineer needs data from those services to make a high-speed mobile app.
However, to boost the speed, we should use another language – Node.js. Thanks to it, a front-end engineer might construct a service as well as the compatible databases from the systems and combine it with a single request.
Conclusion
I hope that four pitfalls above and similar solutions will help you how to solve your issue in the API design platforms.
Collective Sources
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