Wouldn’t it be Cool if all APIs included Swagger YAML and/or JSON files?

Every developer has their own swagger based on their background, education, coding style, programming language used, etc. In this blog post I am talking about a different kind/type of Swagger.

When you are interested in using an API provided by a operating system, platform, service, cloud, or device vendor, I’ll bet that one of the first things you do is to see if there is an API binding for your favorite programming language. Or, maybe you are one of those developers who just need the REST/JSON calling information and you are good to go? Where possible, I like to use client and server language bindings, components or frameworks for my application development projects. Wouldn’t it be great if all APIs included great documentation and also YAML and/or JSON files for the APIs?

Swagger to the Rescue

With the Swagger YAML and/or JSON files I could use Swagger’s CodeGen tool to create bindings for more than 20 server side languages and more than 40 client side languages. That would be awesome. With Swagger supporting a range of tools, both the API developer creator can build their APIs using their programming language of choice and the API developer consumer can use their favorite programming language.

My one simple statement is “If your API supports REST and JSON then you can Reach out to Every Developer“. The text statement on the Swagger site say it succinctly – “Swagger is the world’s largest framework of API developer tools for the OpenAPI Specification(OAS), enabling development across the entire API lifecycle, from design and documentation, to test and deployment.” While most developer program APIs support some common languages including Java, C++, C, C#, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby and Python, there are many other programming languages that also support REST and JSON web services. Why would you intentionally make it harder for developers that use other programming languages?

REST/JSON based APIs work with just about every programming language

My REST/JSON and APIs blog post on the Evans Data DevRelate community site includes links to REST/JSON supporting information for additional programming languages. It’s time for more developer program APIs to make it easier for developers,  using all programming languages, to build applications.

The statement on the Swagger CodeGen tool site says it all – “Build APIs quicker and improve consumption of your Swagger-defined APIs in every popular language with Swagger Codegen. Swagger Codegen can simplify your build process by generating server stubs and client SDKs from your Swagger specification, so your team can focus on your API’s implementation and adoption.”

Have you used Swagger?

Have you used the Swagger tools before? Do you provide APIs with YAML and/or JSON API files? Do you have favorite vendors who have great REST API documentation and include YAML and JSON files? Post a comment below.

David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://devnet.evansdata.org/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99