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World Congress 2023 • Oct 6, 2023

Awful APIs: A History Lesson in Industry Mistakes and Mishaps

James Seconde

Developers fled SOAP for REST, only to create deeply nested GraphQL chaos. Explore the hilariously cyclical history of APIs that finally led us back to sending raw HTML.

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#1 about 3 min

The wheel of time and software history philosophy

How examining historical milestones reveals the ultimately cyclical nature of software development logic.

#2 about 3 min

Invention of punch cards and early programming interfaces

How mid-century computing led to the conceptualization of application programming interfaces for standardizing machine instructions.

#3 about 2 min

Defining basic application programming interfaces with function code

Translating local function calls into conceptual models for communicating across varied software boundaries.

#4 about 5 min

Network communication evolution and remote procedure call implementations

Resolving the complexity of multi-platform computing by transmitting procedural arguments across network wires.

#5 about 4 min

The technical complexities of simple object access protocol

Managing the high overhead of transmitting deeply structured models over networks using bloated XML specifications.

#6 about 3 min

Representational state transfer and the adoption of HTTP verbs

Standardizing data exchanges using core network protocols to modify application state predictably.

#7 about 5 min

Failed standardizations and the impracticality of hypermedia architectures

Why attempting to heavily enforce hypertext engine states created unmaintainable and fragmented service integrations.

#8 about 2 min

Automating documentation and code generation with OpenAPI standards

Defining absolute endpoint schemas to enforce predictable behavior and auto-generate client tooling processes.

#9 about 3 min

Resolving complex data fetching requirements with nested queries

Abandoning rigid endpoint paradigms to request deeply relational datasets through specific custom client declarations.

#10 about 4 min

Server rendered component revival and cyclical software trends

Recognizing how modern frontend architecture is regressing toward sending raw markup natively across network boundaries.

Matching moments

1:55 min

Evolution of API interfaces toward declarative data fetching

Gregor Bauer Gregor Bauer · WWC 2024

5:58 min

Defining REST APIs and software development anti-patterns

Wekoslav Stefanovski Wekoslav Stefanovski · WWC Europe 2026

2:25 min

The enduring legacy of REST APIs

Simon Auer Simon Auer · WWC 2025

3:56 min

Common errors in REST API design and documentation

Wekoslav Stefanovski Wekoslav Stefanovski · WWC Europe 2026

1:50 min

Historical API failures and system security vulnerabilities

Yousaf Nabi Yousaf Nabi · WWC 2025

3:10 min

Understanding the core concepts of API design

Alen Pokos · LIVE

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