Many of today’s mobile apps require online interactivity in some shape or form. It could be to simply retrieve data from a website or social media account, or it may be to send information for reasons of authentication, such as for accessing e-mail accounts or verifying online purchases.
Whichever the case, this means that mobile app development goes hand in hand with web API design and development. APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, allow the software to communicate and interact with each other. Web APIs function in the same way, except they involve online services and resources. Therefore, a mobile app developer looking to create a lucrative mobile app will also have to learn how to develop functional and reliable web APIs.
With that said, designing APIs for mobile apps can be challenging. But by adhering to tried-and-tested guidelines, a developer can craft the API that their app needs in an agile and efficient manner. The following is a list of those practices that you should remember when designing APIs for mobile apps.
Consider using OpenAPI specification
OpenAPI specification is a specific type of format to describe your web API in a machine-readable language. Your API’s description is essentially the blueprint that dictates what your API is all about, from its intended functions and its endpoints to the resources it connects to.
When you use OpenAPI specification to describe your mobile app’s API, you give yourself access to specific benefits that can significantly reduce the amount of coding work that you have to do to get your API built and ready. These benefits include automatic code generation, ease of design collaboration among stakeholders, and a large community of users and experts to assist you.
What’s more, OpenAPI allows you to leverage powerful software suites like Stoplight, which is a complete API toolkit for teams and enterprises. Toolkits like these contribute make designing and developing an API a more efficient and agile process, while also automating resource-intensive tasks such as creating hosted API documentation.
Design with security in mind
Cybersecurity is a very serious issue for mobile apps. This is because the mobile platform sector is a prime target for cybercriminals right now, not only due to its popularity but also to the increasing acceptance of mobile financial transactions. As such, you must develop your API with a security-conscious mindset. Some security points for you to consider include securing the journey of your app’s data to the server and back, as well as integrating safeguards against the malicious use of your API.
Keep data transfer sizes low
Your web API will inevitably facilitate the transfer of data from the app to the server and vice-versa. As such, it’s a good practice to keep the size of the data as low as possible. This is so that the user experience of your app is an agile and responsive one, which is something that users will always appreciate. What’s more, it also ensures that your app has very little impact on your users’ data charges. One recommendation we can make here is to compress the data being sent and received. This will speed up data transfers and make them less of a hassle to deal with.
Never skip API testing
Testing is an important part of any software development process. In this, developing web APIs is no exception. Besides ensuring that your API is completely functional and able to tolerate production-level workloads, rigorous testing also roots out dangerous security flaws and data leaks that could affect your app’s user base. This is another area where using OpenAPI can help, as your API’s specification document can be used to create mock servers. You can then use these servers as a way to mock an online situation for your API, allowing for a sanitized testing environment.
Keep to proper naming conventions
Finally, ensure that you keep to a proper and logical naming convention for your API’s myriad elements, such as its methods, properties, objects, and parameters. While it may be tempting to name these elements to your own personal tastes, doing so will surely confuse your fellow developers when it’s their turn to work on your API, as well as any stakeholders looking over your code. This confusion may then lead to coding errors, which may result in bugs or security issues. As such, it’s important to name your API’s elements properly and logically.
Conclusion
Developing APIs for mobile apps may seem like a daunting task, especially if you are relatively inexperienced in this aspect of software development. However, by keeping the above best practices in mind during your development process, you will be able to craft an API that will not only perform its function well but also improve the user experience of your app.
