API Documentation:
API documentation is a technical content deliverable, containing instructions about how to effectively use and integrate with an API. It’s a concise reference manual containing all the information required to work with the API, with details about the functions, classes, return types, arguments. API Documentation has traditionally been done using regular content creation and maintenance tools and text editors.
API description formats like the OpenAPI/Swagger Specification have automated the documentation process, making it easier for teams to generate and maintain them. Example of API Documentation.
Why Document APIs?
We are in the multi-platform economy era and APIs are the glue of the digital landscape. If you want your API to be used by developers, be sure to provide them with the proper documentation to understand it. Developers are very demanding people, they want to immediately understand how to use your API, they don’t want to waste time. Have a look to the following points:
- Improves the experience for developers using our API.
- Decreases the amount of time spent on-boarding new users (internal developers or external partners). New users will start being productive earlier and will not depend on a person (already with the knowledge) who would need to spend slots of their time to explain how the API is design and how it works.
- Leads to good product maintenance and quicker updates. It helps your internal teams know the details of your resources, methods, and their associated requests and responses, making maintenance and updates quicker.
- Agreement on API specs for the endpoints, data, types, attributes and more. And this helps internal and external users to understand the API and know what it can do.
- The API contract can act as the central reference that keeps all the team members aligned on what your API’s objectives are, and how the API’s resources are exposed.
- Unblocks development on different sides (front-end / back-end / mobile development) due to dependencies on specification.
- Allows identifying bugs and issues in the API’s architecture when defining it with the team.
- Decreases the amount of time (and headaches) spent on understanding how the API works and deciphering unexpected errors when using it.
Write a good Documentation:
Your documentation must be understood even by people who are new in the API Industry.
- Authentication: be sure to document this section in detail. Describes how to use authentication schemes to consume your API.
- Terms of use: the legal agreement between the producer and the consumer. Clearly specify the constraints and help consumers to understand what are the permitted uses of your API.
- Change-log: update the versions of your API, making it stable for your consumers.
- Error messages: Error messages are also critical because they tell your consumers when they are using your API incorrectly. Provide also the solutions to overcome them. Write down all the possible error codes.
