WeAreDevelopers Logo WeAreDevelopers
Sign in
For You LIVE
World Congress 2026 Europe • Jul 10, 2026 • Session details

Rest API Antipatterns

Wekoslav Stefanovski

Are your REST API design choices secretly sabotaging performance? Discover why CRUD obsession, deeply nested URLs, and tight frontend coupling are insidious anti-patterns you must avoid.

Pause
Mute Enter Fullscreen
#1 about 6 min

Defining REST APIs and software development anti-patterns

How anti-patterns differ from outright errors by originating as seemingly good solutions to recurring problems.

#2 about 4 min

Common errors in REST API design and documentation

Why misusing HTTP methods, returning incorrect status codes, and skipping documentation hinder API consumption.

#3 about 4 min

Addressing the Chatty Kathy API design anti-pattern

How overly fine-grained endpoints increase frontend orchestration complexity and server load.

#4 about 4 min

Avoiding the kitchen sink API design anti-pattern

Why returning comprehensive resource representations for simple requests causes severe performance and security impacts.

#5 about 4 min

Preventing the front-end fusion fallacy in REST APIs

How creating endpoints specifically for individual frontend views violates stateless domain architecture.

#6 about 3 min

Overcoming CRUD obsession in REST API development

Why directly exposing database tables as REST endpoints pushes complex transactional logic to the client.

#7 about 3 min

Simplifying the Russian doll URL nesting architecture

Why deeply nested URL paths overcomplicate API security and create redundant authorization checks.

#8 about 2 min

Recognizing the sticky server situation in REST APIs

How storing temporary session state on the backend destroys caching capabilities and idempotency.

#9 about 2 min

Utilizing HTTP headers for client and server negotiation

How leveraging headers instead of URL parameters streamlines content policies and custom request tracking.

#10 about 1 min

Establishing a concrete vision for REST API development

Why balancing domain models and user needs ensures maintainable and resilient software architecture.

Matching moments

3:35 min

Evaluating benefits and drawbacks of common API formats

Alexis Yushin Alexis Yushin · WWC 2024

2:59 min

The danger of adopting default REST APIs

Stefan Priebsch · WWC 2021

1:40 min

Summarizing key engineering lessons for platform API development

Anto Anto · WWC 2024

3:10 min

Understanding the core concepts of API design

Alen Pokos · LIVE

5:00 min

Navigating complexity and anti-patterns in modern software architecture

Mihaela-Roxana Ghidersa · LIVE

2:25 min

The enduring legacy of REST APIs

Simon Auer Simon Auer · WWC 2025

More from World Congress 2026 Europe

Building the Nervous System of AI - Michael Kagan (NVIDIA) thumbnail
29:17
about 1 month ago

Building the Nervous System of AI - Michael Kagan (NVIDIA)

Michael Kagan, Sead Ahmetović

Five Things in Tech that Matter Now - WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2026 Closing Keynote thumbnail
19:41
about 1 month ago

Five Things in Tech that Matter Now - WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2026 Closing Keynote

Christian Heilmann

The Sound of Your Secrets: Teaching Your Model to Spy, So You Can Learn to Defend thumbnail
32:06
about 1 month ago

The Sound of Your Secrets: Teaching Your Model to Spy, So You Can Learn to Defend

David vonThenen

Super scaling for the Super Bowl: How to survive 30 million users hitting your backend in 30 minutes thumbnail
35:13
about 1 month ago

Super scaling for the Super Bowl: How to survive 30 million users hitting your backend in 30 minutes

Irina Branovic

Running Secure Life Science Research at Scale using Hybrid GPU HPC and Kubernetes 🧬 thumbnail
24:23
about 1 month ago

Running Secure Life Science Research at Scale using Hybrid GPU HPC and Kubernetes 🧬

Jeremy Murray

Angstfreude - AI and Corporate Culture - The Thrill and the Threat thumbnail
30:26
about 1 month ago

Angstfreude - AI and Corporate Culture - The Thrill and the Threat

Axel Ebert, Karin Krobath

Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?!

Rustam Mehmandarov

Passionate computer scientist

Rustam Mehmandarov
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

Designing APIs That Survive AI Agents at Scale

Phani Pendurthi

Mastercard, Principal Software Engineer

Phani Pendurthi
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

AI-Driven API Design

Mike Amundsen

Author, Adviser, Trainer

Mike Amundsen
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

How to generate business value through performance optimizations

Nikolai Sidiropulo

Software Engineer at Meta

Nikolai Sidiropulo
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

public void saveMoney(AI): The Developer's Guide to Unit Economics

Hrushikesh Pokala

Senior Software Engineer Lead at Equifax

Hrushikesh Pokala
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

It passed auth, then production caught fire

Alex Olivier

Co-founder & CPO @ Cerbos | OpenID AuthZEN Co-chair

Alex Olivier

Related videos

API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?! thumbnail
27:25
WWC 2025 • 12 months ago

API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?!

Rustam Mehmandarov

An Opinionated Guide to Bulletproof APIs thumbnail
27:13
WWC Europe 2026 • about 1 month ago

An Opinionated Guide to Bulletproof APIs

Rustam Mehmandarov

Awful APIs: A History Lesson in Industry Mistakes and Mishaps thumbnail
28:55
WWC 2023 • almost 3 years ago

Awful APIs: A History Lesson in Industry Mistakes and Mishaps

James Seconde

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC? thumbnail
28:16
WWC 2024 • almost 2 years ago

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Alexis Yushin

API Design - Getting Started thumbnail
44:15
LIVE • almost 6 years ago

API Design - Getting Started

Alen Pokos

REST in Peace? What does the API protocol of the future look like? Or do we have it already? thumbnail
20:29
WWC 2025 • 12 months ago

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

Simon Auer

Related articles

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.