The Building Blocks of a Successful API

by Kin Lane on 08/12/2012

When I started API Evangelist two years ago, I noticed some common practices by API owners, in how they tailored their API areas, and I started calling these API building blocks. I started a section of the site dedicated to my building block philosphy and showcased what I felt were the most common building blocks across the most successful APIs.

Two years later, and after having viewed just about every API publicly available, I have updated my building blocks section, based upon the practices of 1500 of the most successful APIs. Along with this update I have also published a white paper called The Building Blocks of a Successful API.

The Building Blocks of a Successful API is not meant to provide detail on implementing these building blocks, but shed light on the common ones used by the top APIs. The white paper is 32 pages long and provides:

73 Common API Building Blocks, in 18 Categories
30 Top APIs for Review While Planning Your API
Building Block Checklist for Easy Review Before Launch

All of this information is freely available on this site, but will require some clicking to gather across pages and blog posts. If you can’t afford the white paper, I want you to be able to learn what you need to be successful. The Building Blocks of a Successful API is meant to be a single PDF, for you to easily read, and find success in planning your own API.

The Building Blocks of a Successful API is the first in a series of white papers I’m producing to provide the resources needed to successfully plan, deploy and manage your APIs while also producing the revenue I need to keep doing the research and writing the drives API Evangelist and API Voice.

Thanks for your support, and I good luck with your API!