Creating a High Performance API

Performance has always been a key factor while developing an API. With the advancement in technology, the process of ensuring a performant API has changed from time to time. Conventionally, some codes were created to be load tested by a QA team, followed by some integration testing. However, it was able to meet the performance benchmark marginally. It was the time when HTTP based APIs on distributed devices were not just the rule.

Today, API has found its place everywhere. The rise in its popularity is making companies to have a new and different perspective on API performance. When we talk about API performance, it’s not just limited to code and load test. It’s something beyond HTTPs.

Data

The basic data structure and data architecture are key to large scale APIs. There are many companies who publish large scale APIs and consider database indexes as the most important thing. API performance can be boosted by separating read and write functionality at the database level using de-normalization.

Use case

API often requires you to provide a lot of details about the use case. The information collected is subjected to boatload, which returns a lot of data. Large amount of data can be better handled by segmenting the process using different API endpoints. The overall API experience can be further improved by understanding the API services and understanding how to design the architecture that divides the process in multiple a dialog based API calls.

API performance can be challenging while doing online shopping, as it involves a lot of data in various states of flux. Many companies overcome the situation by creating a core design to be followed by all developers. An API will hold more state if it has to do more work, which might work slowly later on.

As discussed earlier, it requires a different perspective, from comprehensive design to stack, database, workflow design, HTTP access point, and more.

The Three Takeaways