jesse, Author at OpenAPI Initiative

Sep 24

OpenAPI is People!

By jesse Blog

During the 2020 API Specifications Conference, influential members of the OpenAPI community gathered to discuss the people and processes that keep OpenAPI Initiative running smoothly.

Collaboration between diverse companies is one of the most remarkable aspects of the OpenAPI community. Competitors realize the importance of creating a standardized description for APIs, and band together to accomplish a shared goal. In a recent discussion, influential community members celebrated OpenAPI’s accomplishments and reflected on its journey,

The talk featured:

Neal Caidin, Program Manager at The Linux Foundation
Marsh Gardiner, Product Manager at Google
Ole Lensmar, Chief Architect at SmartBear
Darrel Miller, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
Lorna Mitchell, Senior Developer Advocate at Nexmo, Vonage API Platform

Mitchell discussed how implementing OpenAPI descriptions into her work has improved developer experience, helped internal development and allowed non-technical developers to better understand the content. She also provided insight into how developers can contribute to OpenAPI.

Any developer can join the Technical Developer Community, and participate in the community. This is a great place to ask questions, and share knowledge. On the other hand, the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) is composed of elected members that make high-level decisions to ensure OpenAPI operates smoothly. Gardiner and Miller are both part of the TSC, and discussed some of the difficulties associated with adding new features to OpenAPI.

The OpenAPI specification must meet the requirements of developers, but also be accessible to newcomers. Balancing functionality and complexity is a delicate act, and the TSC is often wary of adding unnecessary features. However, they listen to the community, and respond when there is rising interest in a particular subject.

For more information on how to contribute to the OpenAPI Initiative, visit the website!

Participate in TSC weekly web conferences
Become a member of the OpenAPI Initiative
Watch the video recording of the OpenAPI is People! session

Sep 22

Love0

From 0 to OpenAPI: How GitHub Described a 10 year old API

By jesse Blog

GitHub recently adjusted their extensive, old API in order to comply with current OpenAPI standards. At the API Specifications Conference we got the opportunity to hear how they accomplished this feat from leaders on the project.

GitHub recently released an OpenAPI description for their REST API. It is now easier than ever to integrate projects with GitHub data using simple, standardized API calls. However, the API team at GitHub faced many challenges in describing their massive API so that it would comply with OpenAPI specifications. At one point, their API had over 37,000 errors and 500 invalid operators!

The enthralling explanation of their unique solutions to these challenges is available here.

A quick description of the OpenAPI Specification:

“The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) defines a standard, programming language-agnostic interface description for HTTP APIs, which allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of a service without requiring access to source code, additional documentation, or inspection of network traffic.”

GitHub adopted OpenAPI specifications for their API in order to automate SDK’s and documentation. Using OpenAPI descriptions also helps ensure a consistent developer experience for users of the API. Finally, implementation of an OpenAPI description simplifies and standardizes the system, freeing up GitHub’s API team to work on other aspects of the project.

GitHub Open Source REST API is available at the link below:

https://github.com/github/rest-api-description

GitHub REST API Documentation:

https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api