Thread by @apihandyman

This week in "APIs and stuff" we talked about handling changes (versioning, visible and invisible changes, organization changes impact user-driven changes, ...). Next week we'll talk about API monetization. twitter.com/i/spaces/1OwxW…

And thank you @patricekrakow for joining the discussion!

For next week's "APIs and stuff" space, speakers talking about experience in API monetization (monetizing your APIs, building monetization solutions) are welcomed! Monetization most often means public APIs, but I look forward to talking about why and how monetize private APIs

Now, some bits of today's session about handling changes.

You will not be able to handle API changes if you don't know who consumes your API. So having an API management solution (or similar mechanism) is a must-have. #apichanges

Don't forget Hyrum's law: every single observable behavior of your API can become part of the contract for some consumers. Examples: degrading or improving performance, modifying data volume returned #apichanges hyrumslaw.com

From a technical perspective, you have 3 components to version separately: the interface contract, the implementation, and the documentation #apichanges

Introducing a breaking change (non-backward compatible) is not always a problem: it depends on the cost of change #apichanges apihandyman.io/handling-break…

Never engage with API providers who do not clearly describe their breaking change policy. And check it is compatible with how your organization works (a 6 months delay may not work with yearly budgets for instance) #apichanges

Changes not only concern the API contract. You may have to handle organization changes on your side (like the person who was handling the COBOL SDK is not there anymore) #apichanges

You may have to handle consumer-induced changes. More consumer means more horse-power needed, is your infra scalable? Human in the loop for subscription or in process hidden behind API calls? #apichanges

Also, not totally shameless plug (@medjawii mentioned it!) “Breaking Changes” is a weekly talk show hosted by @kinlane Chief Evangelist at @getpostman postman.com/events/breakin…