Interview: API Landscape on Getting APIs to Work
Who should read this:
API tool providers and consultants, API architects and developers
What it’s about:
An explanation of the API Landscape from its creation to its most recent iteration with details on the API Landscape’s interactive features and user benefits.
Why it’s important:
The API Landscape provides a comprehensive view of stakeholders within the API ecosystem. Inclusion in the API Landscape helps tooling providers reach a larger audience, while knowledge of the API Landscape benefits API consumers by showing them the API tools available.
The API Landscape began in 2017 as an initiative from apidays to map the worldwide community of users involved in their conferences. It has since become a comprehensive map of over 2,000 tool providers. As a crowdsourced data set, the API Landscape keeps up with the continually evolving API industry, providing an essential resource for API producers, creators, and consumers. Platformable Director Mark Boyd and OpenAPI Initiative ambassador Erik Wilde met earlier this month to discuss the API Landscape’s user benefits.
“The API Landscape is a tool itself,” Boyd explained of its versatility. Users can begin their search by viewing tool providers separated into broad clusters and then drill down further into categories and sub-categories. When selecting a tool provider, they’ll see the provider’s URL and facts about them, like the number of products they offer and their current investment status. They’ll also see inclusivity metrics such as the employment of women and people of color in management positions. With this knowledge, users can compare multiple providers to choose the best fit for their needs.
Educational tools like courses, podcasts, and YouTube channels, such as Erik Wilde’s Getting APIs to Work, are also listed in the API Landscape, allowing users to familiarize themselves with the industry. Those wishing to learn more about current API news and best practices can further their knowledge by visiting APIscene, also hosted by apidays.
Inclusion in the API Landscape benefits API tool providers as well as consumers. By being listed on the API Landscape, they can raise awareness of their products, potentially expanding their user base. If you’d like to get involved with the API Landscape, you can fill out a form to add your tool, and those with tools already added can request additions or updates to their API Landscape entry.
To see Boyd and Wilde’s full interview, click the video above or visit Getting APIs to Work.
This article originally appeared here.
