Simon Auer

REST in Peace? What does the API protocol of the future look like? Or do we have it already?

Is the perfect API protocol already here, just scattered across REST, GraphQL, and gRPC? This talk builds the ultimate wishlist for the future of APIs.

REST in Peace? What does the API protocol of the future look like? Or do we have it already?
#1about 3 minutes

Why REST APIs are still the industry standard

Despite its age, REST remains the dominant API protocol, similar to other long-lasting technologies from the early 2000s.

#2about 1 minute

Identifying the key limitations of REST APIs

REST APIs commonly suffer from over-fetching, under-fetching, undefined structures, request overhead, and a lack of real-time support.

#3about 4 minutes

Categorizing different types of API technologies

APIs can be grouped into resource-oriented (REST, GraphQL), procedure-oriented (RPC), and server-driven UI approaches.

#4about 3 minutes

Deconstructing REST for a future API wishlist

REST provides foundational features like authentication, caching, and a vast client ecosystem, which are essential for any future API protocol.

#5about 3 minutes

How GraphQL improves upon REST's limitations

GraphQL addresses REST's data fetching issues with strong schema-based typing, built-in introspection, and flexible querying capabilities.

#6about 3 minutes

Exploring gRPC for high-performance communication

gRPC offers high performance and low latency for internal services through its remote procedure call model and efficient Protobuf serialization.

#7about 2 minutes

Learning from Firebase's developer experience features

Firebase provides valuable developer experience features like offline persistence, declarative permission rules, and automatic scaling that are desirable in a future API.

#8about 2 minutes

Compiling the wishlist for the API of the future

The ideal future API combines the best features for developer experience, performance, and security, potentially enhanced with AI for documentation and optimization.

#9about 1 minute

Choosing the right API protocol for today's needs

While the ideal future API doesn't exist, developers can choose REST for simplicity, GraphQL for complex data, and gRPC for high-performance microservices.

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