Applications Programming Interfaces have changed how software applications are developed. They have provided developers with a way through which they can allow their applications to communicate with ease, reuse code when building the applications, and increased the speed of building new applications. Due to this, there has been a rapid adoption of APIs across different industries.

The increased adoption of APIs has brought a new requirement for the APIs to meet all their requirements without any issues. This is the API lifecycle management. It can be defined as a computer programs management strategy that involves software architecture, requirements management, programming, software testing and maintenance, continuous integration, change management, release management, and project management. 

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It basically involves managing all the stages in the life of an API, from the time an API is developed to the time it is retired. 

API Lifecycle Management Stages

The stages of an API lifecycle are grouped into four categories. They include;

1. API Creation
2. API Control 
3. API Consumption
4. API Analytics

The Creation Stage

This is the initial stage in the lifecycle management of an API. It involves modeling, orchestrating, transforming, and documenting an API. Modeling is the process of making sure that the API endpoint data requirements are met, either visually or through writing a program. For instance, if you have existing data in a database that you intend to expose with APIs, you can define the format of your API after exposing the data model in your database.

Orchestrating involves combining and normalizing data coming from different sources. If, for instance, an API combines data from other APIs, it can be exposed using orchestration, either asynchronously or synchronously. 

The transformation phase involves changing from legacy formats to modern formats that are easy to use and understand. For example, you can change from XML to JSON. Modern digital applications consume JSON formats, making it necessary to convert data formats at this stage.

Finally, developers are required to generate code snippets and documents for modeling and to guide the operations of the API. This is important especially when new developers are adopting your API and would like to customize it to meet their requirements.

The Control Stage

The control stage consists of deployment, access management, security, and infrastructure scaling. The deployment phase involves making sure that your API is deployed and accessible by the target environment. It is advisable to use development tools that come with continuous delivery and integration to speed up the time taken between development and deployment.

At the control stage, developers are also required to manage access to their APIs. Here, they decide how the API is accessed, and enforce throttling and rate-limiting policies. If you have many APIs, this phase might be difficult. However, using an API catalog solves all issues with managing multiple APIs.

Developers are also required to enforce all regulations concerning the security of their APIs. Here, they can use API management tools that enforce the security of their APIs. Finally, developers need to make sure that their infrastructure is scalable and can adjust itself depending on the requirements of the API consumers.

The Consumption Stage

This stage consists of publishing the API, making sure that it is available to developers, executing the operations of the API, and monetizing it. When publishing the API, developers are supposed to market it to the public, their partners, and internal groups using an API catalog.

After that, they need to make sure that anyone that wants to use the API can do so on their own. They should not only access the API, but also its documentation and attributes without any issues. They are also supposed to be able to invoke the API operations using a client application easily.

Finally, developers are required to track the usage of their APIs and from it, come up with a policy through which they can generate revenue. Even though you might decide to offer your API for free, some developers monetize theirs, coming up with different plans depending on things such as access levels and transactions per day.

API Analytics

Analyzing the performance and utilization of an API is not a stage at the end of the API lifecycle management, but something that should happen throughout the lifecycle. This is because developers need to understand how to improve and control the API throughout its life. 

Conclusion

APIs are driving business operations today. They have changed and eased how transactions are made. For instance, they have fueled open banking and completely changed operations in the financial industry. However, they need to be managed for them to meet all their requirements. One should not wait until an API is deployed for them to think about management. This should happen throughout the lifecycle of any API.