API Friendliness Checker. A much needed tool in the age of data products.

Many people don't know, but we are surrounded by APIs. APIs are the mechanism by which services communicate on the Internet. APIs are what make it possible for us to log into our email or make a purchase online.

API stands for Application Programming Interface, which for most Internet users means nothing. However, the reality is that thanks to APIs today we can do all those fantastic things that we love so much in the digital world. From logging into any Internet service, making a purchase on Amazon or reserving a hotel room on Booking. All these services are possible thanks to APIs.

A simple way to explain what an API is for is as follows: a mechanism by which two software programs can “talk” and exchange the data they need to fulfill the functionality for which they were designed. For example, to log in to our email provider, there is a program in charge of validating that we have a correct username and password. However, this program must receive that username and password from a person who interacts with a web browser or a mobile application. In order for the mobile application to know how to send that program the username and password of the person who wants to access the service, it uses an API as an exchange language. This API defines the way the mobile app sends this data and the way the validation program consumes it. Thus, when a new mobile application requires the same validation process, it will be enough to follow the same API to verify the user's credentials.

The importance of APIs in creating data products

In this new post, we focus on the field of APIs as a key technological base for the creation of data products. The fundamental characteristic of digital disruption is the role of data as the main transforming element of organizations and society. This is why data products are becoming more common and valuable. Data products are digital applications and services created with the integrated data component from design. The data component does not have to be the only characteristic of the product or service, but it does play a fundamental role in the operation of the product (physical or digital) or service. Take, for example, a mobile map application. Its main functionality may be to show us a map and physically locate our current position. However, the application can be understood as a data product where, in addition to our current position, we find nearby services such as restaurants, gas stations, libraries, etc. In addition, we can over-print weather information or current traffic conditions. An application of this type cannot be understood without an ecosystem of APIs that allow the intercommunication of the different services (meteorology, traffic, points of interest, etc.) with the application itself.

How to Manage APIs in Data Products: The Friendliness Checker API Example

Having clearly understood the importance of APIs in data products, let us now analyze the complexity of managing one or more large APIs in a data product. Creating good APIs is hard work. You need to determine what data you are going to provide and accept our API. We must estimate the volume of requests that we will have to assume. We must think about the update mechanisms as well as the monitoring of the use that the API is having. Not to mention the security and privacy of the data that the API will handle.

For these and many other reasons, the Support Center for Data Sharing has created the API Friendliness Checker tool. The Support Center for Data Sharing (SCDS) is a European project led by a consortium of three companies: Capgemini Invent, Fraunhofer Fokus and Timelex.

The API Friendliness Checker tool allows API developers to analyze whether their APIs comply with the OpenAPI specification: an established and widely recognized standard for developing APIs. The OpenAPI specification was developed with accessibility criteria in mind. The goal is that the services and applications that implement it can be understood by humans and machines alike, without the need to access programming code or documentation. In other words, an API developed under the OpenAPI specification is self-contained and can be used out of the box without the need for additional documentation or code. In other words, an API developed under the OpenAPI specification is self-contained and can be used out of the box without the need for additional documentation or code.

When we use the tool, the API compatibility validator allows the developer to compare their API against the essential quality and usability criteria defined by the OpenAPI specification. The tool allows you to copy the specification url of our API to evaluate its compatibility. It is also possible to copy and paste the description of our API in the editor of the tool. Just by pressing the validate button, the compatibility checker will evaluate the API and display any comments for improvement.

 

For more information on the technical characteristics of this validation tool, all the information can be consulted on the SCDS website https://eudatasharing.eu/es/node/578.

If you are thinking of creating a new data product, we are sure that this tool to validate your API before putting it into production will be of great help. Finally, if your digital product is based on real-time data, you will surely be interested in exploring these other concepts such as event-oriented systems and asynchronous APIs.

Do you want to know more about the APIs?

As we have seen, APIs are a fundamental element in the world of data. Whether you are a publisher or a reuser of open data, at datos.gob.es you have at your disposal some materials that can help you:

• Report "How to generate value from data: formats, techniques and tools to analyze open data". Aimed at reusers, it discusses the world of APIs in more detail, including practical examples on their use on the Internet.
• “Practical guide for the publication of Open Data using APIs”. Aimed at those data portals that do not yet have an API, this guide offers guidelines to define and implement this data access mechanism.