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Everything I know about good API design

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428 points ahamez | 1 comments | 24 Aug 25 19:10 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
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runroader ◴[24 Aug 25 22:41 UTC] No.45008463[source]▶
I think the only thing here that I don't agree with is that internal users are just users. Yes, they may be more technical - or likely other programmers, but they're busy too. Often they're building their own thing and don't have the time or ability to deal with your API churning.

If at all possible, take your time and dog-food your API before opening it up to others. Once it's opened, you're stuck and need to respect the "never break userspace" contract.

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1. scott_w ◴[25 Aug 25 18:04 UTC] No.45016822[source]▶
A big difference is you can tell internal users to update or else. It’s not free and should be reserved for good business reasons, but it can happen on a shorter time frame as you have the internal organisation to enforce it.

It’s not really an option in the same way with end users or customers, as they aren’t part of your organisation, by definition.