API Life Cycle Management
What is API Life Cycle Management?
API life cycle management means managing and maintaining an API from its design and creation to its eventual retirement. Doing this effectively can maximize the functionality and success of your API.
The API life cycle can be split into seven parts. The first is design. Design is where a specification is decided, and security protocols are defined. Most web APIs follow the OpenAPI specification. Using a specification has benefits such as standardization and portability.
Development is the next stage. Development is guided by schemas stated in the specification. This stage benefits from collaborative tools and workspaces.
Next is Secure. The appropriate level of security for your API will depend on whether it is external, internal, or hybrid. Standard security methods include OAuth, API keys, and IP safe listing. Security controls API access, so monetization may be considered at this stage.
Now you can publish your API so that it is available to clients. By this stage, documentation and testing should be complete.
Next is to monitor your API. Doing this after its publication is vital to ensure it performs as expected. Using analysis tools, you should check and test any new changes through CI/CD pipelines and monitor results.
Next, if you decide on monetization, you can decide on a type of plan. You can do a pay-as-you-go service where the number of API calls is limited based on the plan, or it can depend on the marketplace where your API is published.
The final stage is retirement, also called depreciation. An API is depreciated once it no longer receives updates, bug fixes, or maintenance of any kind. Usually, this is because new software is introduced that is incompatible with older services.