What distinguishes an API architect from an API developer?

If you are interested in building and designing APIs, you might wonder what are the differences between an API architect and an API developer. These two roles have some overlapping responsibilities, but also distinct skills and perspectives. In this article, we will explore what distinguishes an API architect from an API developer in terms of their goals, tasks, tools, and challenges.

1 API architect goals

An API architect is responsible for defining the overall vision, strategy, and standards for the APIs in an organization. They aim to ensure that the APIs are consistent, scalable, secure, and aligned with the business objectives and user needs. An API architect also oversees the API lifecycle, from planning and design to testing and deployment. They collaborate with various stakeholders, such as product managers, developers, and customers, to understand their requirements and expectations, and to communicate the API value proposition and best practices.

Add your perspective

Chris Lees

Helping trading firms deliver great APIs using FIX, REST, WebSocket and binary.
Report contribution
When firms are small, you often find that the role of API "architect" falls to either a product manager, or to the developer who codes the API. Maybe that's OK (and what is needed) to get you started quickly. As a firm grows and adds more APIs, however, a raft of new challenges arise, and these are the ones that should fall under the responsibility of an API architect. How many of these have you seen? - Sprawl: APIs appearing everywhere with little control over what they achieve - Inconsistency: APIs documented in different formats (and in different locations) or using different terms for the same thing - Duplication: APIs doing largely the same thing - Versioning: Problems identifying the latest version and backward compatibility

Like

2 API developer goals

An API developer is responsible for implementing the API functionality, logic, and integration. They aim to deliver high-quality, reliable, and maintainable code that meets the specifications and standards defined by the API architect. An API developer also tests, debugs, and documents the API features, and provides feedback and suggestions for improvement. They collaborate with other developers, testers, and users, to ensure that the APIs work as expected and solve the problems they are designed for.

Add your perspective

3 API architect tasks

An API architect typically carries out a range of tasks, such as researching the market, competitors, and trends related to APIs; defining the API roadmap, architecture, design principles, and policies; selecting the appropriate API style, format, protocol, and platform; setting up API governance, security, and performance criteria; reviewing and approving the API specifications and contracts; evaluating and choosing the API tools and frameworks; monitoring and measuring the API usage, quality, and feedback; as well as providing guidance and mentorship to the API developers and users.

Add your perspective

Chris Lees

Helping trading firms deliver great APIs using FIX, REST, WebSocket and binary.
Report contribution
The role of mentor or "sounding-board" is really important, either for a product manager who is uncertain how to implement an API, or a developer tasked with delivering it. There are lots of resources on API principles and coding techniques of course, but there is no real substitute for working with someone who can look at your specific use case and give the benefit of their experience. A small firm might not have such an expert on staff of course and if this is the case then seek others in your industry who can help.

Like

4 API developer tasks

An API developer typically has a wide range of tasks to perform, such as writing the API code using the chosen programming language and framework, testing the API functionality, debugging and fixing errors, documenting the features, parameters, and responses, deploying the API to the environment and platform, updating and maintaining the code and documentation, following standards and best practices, and learning new skills and techniques.

Add your perspective

5 API architect tools

An API architect employs a variety of tools to assist them in designing, documenting, and managing APIs. These include API design tools such as Swagger, OpenAPI, or RAML for creating and editing the API specifications and contracts; API documentation tools like Slate, ReadMe, or Postman for generating and publishing the API documentation; API testing tools like SoapUI, RestAssured, or Postman to confirm and validate the API functionality and performance; API management tools like Apigee, Kong, or AWS API Gateway for monitoring, securing, and controlling the API access and usage; and API analytics tools such as Google Analytics, New Relic, or Grafana to measure and report the API metrics and insights.

Add your perspective

6 API developer tools

An API developer utilizes a variety of tools to code, test, and deploy APIs. Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA are popular development tools used for writing and editing API code. Express, Django, and Spring Boot are frameworks that help simplify and speed up the API development process. Libraries and SDKs such as Axios, Requests, and Retrofit are useful for API integration and communication. Chrome DevTools, Postman, and Fiddler are great debugging tools to inspect and troubleshoot the API requests and responses. Finally, Docker, Kubernetes, and Heroku are helpful deployment tools to build and run the API containers and services.

Add your perspective

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

Cynthia Dike

Software Engineer
Report contribution
Both roles even though they have distinct responsibilities, are critical in ensuring the success of an API-driven project. It is important to know that while an API architect is responsible for the overarching design, strategy, and guidelines of an API, an API developer is mainly involved in implementing and coding the actual functionalities of the API. Just as a well-designed house blueprint is indispensable for construction, the API architect's blueprint is indispensable for developers. It provides a clear path, guiding developers to build APIs in a structured and efficient manner, resulting in robust and effective solutions.

Like
Houssem Gharsallah

A Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect And API Architect at Moneris
Report contribution
Both roles are complementary. Architects by nature tend to focus on building the big picture. Developers on the other hand are more detail oriented. In a MACH architecture (Microservices, API First, Cloud native, Headless), this analogy becomes prevalent as the API Architect will often wear the Solution Architect hat while making sure all APIs are consistent, thus risking loosing track of the details. All the while API Developers will have the detailed framework needed to build very well scalable and maintainable microservice APIs. It is difficult to have the big picture in mind while focusing on the details, hence you need both.

Like

What distinguishes an API architect from an API developer?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 API architect goals

2 API developer goals

3 API architect tasks

4 API developer tasks

5 API architect tools

6 API developer tools

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Engineering

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Software Engineering

More relevant reading