State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study

Mikko Raatikainen; Elina Kettunen; Ari Salonen; Marko Komssi; Tommi Mikkonen; Timo Lehtonen

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14

State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study

Mikko Raatikainen, Elina Kettunen, Ari Salonen, Marko Komssi, Tommi Mikkonen, Timo Lehtonen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have become prevalent in today’s software systems and services. APIs are basically a technical means to realize the co-operation between software systems or services. While there are several guidelines for API development, the actually applied practices and challenges are less clear. To better understand the state of the practice of API development and management in the industry, we conducted a descriptive case study in four Finnish software companies: two consultancy companies developing software for their customers, and two companies developing their software products. As a result, we identified five different usage scenarios for APIs and emphasize that diversity of usage should be taken into account more explicitly especially in research. API development and technical management are well supported by the existing tools and technologies especially available from the cloud technology. This leaves as the main challenge the selection of the right technology from the existing technology stack. Documentation and usability are practical issues to be considered and often less rigorously addressed. However, understanding what kind of API management model to apply for the business context appears as the major challenge. We also suggest considering APIs more clearly a separate concern in the product management with specific practices, such as API roadmapping.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Software Architecture. ECSA 2021 : 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings
Editors	S Biffl, E Navarro, W Lowe, M Sirjani, R Mirandola, D Weyns
Number of pages	16
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publication date	2021
Pages	191-206
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-86043-1
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-86044-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14
Publication status	Published - 2021
MoE publication type	A4 Article in conference proceedings
Event	European Conference, ECSA - , Sweden Duration: 13 Sept 2021 → 17 Sept 2021 Conference number: 15

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher	SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG
Volume	12857
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743

Fields of Science

113 Computer and information sciences
Software engineering
Application programming interface
API
API management
Case study
PAINS

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14

4APIS_APIPracticesFinland_CaseStudy_camera_readyAccepted author manuscript, 222 KB

4APIs
Raatikainen, M., Mikkonen, T., Kettunen, E. & Muiruri, D.
01/09/2019 → 31/03/2021
Project: Research project

Cite this

Raatikainen, M., Kettunen, E., Salonen, A., Komssi, M., Mikkonen, T., & Lehtonen, T. (2021). State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study. In S. Biffl, E. Navarro, W. Lowe, M. Sirjani, R. Mirandola, & D. Weyns (Eds.), Software Architecture. ECSA 2021: 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings (pp. 191-206). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 12857). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14

Raatikainen, Mikko ; Kettunen, Elina ; Salonen, Ari et al. / State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study. Software Architecture. ECSA 2021: 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings. editor / S Biffl ; E Navarro ; W Lowe ; M Sirjani ; R Mirandola ; D Weyns. Springer-Verlag, 2021. pp. 191-206 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

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abstract = " Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have become prevalent in today{\textquoteright}s software systems and services. APIs are basically a technical means to realize the co-operation between software systems or services. While there are several guidelines for API development, the actually applied practices and challenges are less clear. To better understand the state of the practice of API development and management in the industry, we conducted a descriptive case study in four Finnish software companies: two consultancy companies developing software for their customers, and two companies developing their software products. As a result, we identified five different usage scenarios for APIs and emphasize that diversity of usage should be taken into account more explicitly especially in research. API development and technical management are well supported by the existing tools and technologies especially available from the cloud technology. This leaves as the main challenge the selection of the right technology from the existing technology stack. Documentation and usability are practical issues to be considered and often less rigorously addressed. However, understanding what kind of API management model to apply for the business context appears as the major challenge. We also suggest considering APIs more clearly a separate concern in the product management with specific practices, such as API roadmapping.",

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Raatikainen, M , Kettunen, E, Salonen, A, Komssi, M, Mikkonen, T & Lehtonen, T 2021, State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study. in S Biffl, E Navarro, W Lowe, M Sirjani, R Mirandola & D Weyns (eds), Software Architecture. ECSA 2021: 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 12857, Springer-Verlag, pp. 191-206, European Conference, ECSA, Sweden, 13/09/2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14

State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study. / Raatikainen, Mikko ; Kettunen, Elina; Salonen, Ari et al.
Software Architecture. ECSA 2021: 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings. ed. / S Biffl; E Navarro; W Lowe; M Sirjani; R Mirandola; D Weyns. Springer-Verlag, 2021. p. 191-206 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 12857).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

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AU - Raatikainen, Mikko

AU - Kettunen, Elina

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AU - Lehtonen, Timo

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Raatikainen M , Kettunen E, Salonen A, Komssi M, Mikkonen T, Lehtonen T. State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study. In Biffl S, Navarro E, Lowe W, Sirjani M, Mirandola R, Weyns D, editors, Software Architecture. ECSA 2021: 15th European Conference, ECSA 2021, Virtual Event, Sweden, September 13-17, 2021, Proceedings. Springer-Verlag. 2021. p. 191-206. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-86044-8_14

State of the Practice in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): A Case Study

Abstract

Publication series

Fields of Science

Access to Document

Projects

4APIs

Cite this