Mobile Api Tips You Will Find Handly

By Author: Noga Tech
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Many articles are available on the internet about designing an API that allows mobile apps to communicate with specific cloud-based services. Some of these concepts and practices are still useful for mobile API developers, but others have lost their value over time. Everyone who wants to improve the mobile app's performance must optimize the backend APIs. This post will highlight some of my best tips for designing a Mobile API that provides remote access to data and resources for mobile clients. Let's get started with these tips immediately!

Assure proper versioning of APIs right from the start

Your mobile API is likely to change in the future, so it is a good idea to choose the appropriate version. The API is the contract between the backend of the app and the app that uses it. Therefore, it must be available in multiple versions. This would allow you to continue using an app that is familiar with the most recent API changes. If any API modifications are made, it is possible to ignore the versioning of API and make the application non-functional.

Get the most out of LocalStorage and caching.

It is ...
... important to save the HTML, CSS, and all images in localStorage to avoid the negative effects of slow mobile networks on your app's performance. Mobile app owners have seen a drop in the size of their HTML documents from 200KB down to a mere 30KB. It is good to send all unchanging data, such as categories, main navigation, etc., inside the app. This would not require you to travel across the mobile network. It will also save you the trouble of pre-fetching data (queries, paginated results, etc.). That data would be automatically loaded onto the device.

Use JSON

No longer is it effective to pass POST data as url-encoded data. Things have changed. It is now recommended to use JSON to send data to endpoints. This would not only make the requests easier to read, but it would also allow the end-user to assemble them easily. Rails have been a fast way to handle all JSON-encoded parameters. Rails' ActionController automates the unwrapping of JSON-encoded data, which allows you to access it via params hash.

It is essential to paginate results.
Pagination is a good technique to prevent the return of thousands or hundreds of records for multiple customers at once. When designing your mobile API, paginate all results that return a specific list of items. Rails allow you to implement pagination using kaminari easily or manually by using offset or limit statements in your queries or data collection. Important: The pagination meta-information must be displayed when paginated results are returned. You can do this by using HTTP Link-Headers in the response. This header contains a complete URL to the first, second, and previous pages of the result set. Clients can then handle multiple paginated results at once. Simple parsing can be achieved with the automatic pagination of results.

Do not include unnecessary requests or steps within the API
Mobile APIs often have discrete steps that demonstrate how the service can work. You should avoid such steps as an API designer. They are not the best way to implement a mobile application efficiently.

Consider implementing a Rate Limit at an early stage of the API design process.
Things are usually calm when your API is first introduced to users, but things quickly get chaotic once the application has become a big success. This means that more people will choose to integrate your API in their infrastructure and workflows, calling your endpoint thousands of times per hour and asking the same URL again and again. The idea of implementing a Rate Limit is a beacon of light. A simple Rate-LImit would stop servers from falling via CI-server. It also gives users an indication of how to use the API accurately. Nginx limit_req is a good approach for large infrastructure. However, Redis can be a great option for other users.

Choose the Non-blocking IO

Optimizing an API for clients requires that you pay particular attention to the blocking of JavaScript execution. If your API relies on a third party to function, the non-blocking IO approach is best. The Polling or Triggering models are both options. These are the differences between the models.

Triggering model- Also known as the push-based or trigger model, the Triggering Model has a trigger API that allows the caller to make a request and then receive a response from the server. A callback is also provided to the server to trigger an event and inform the caller of the results' availability.
The polling model- Also known as the pull-based or polling model, has an API that allows clients to make requests and then check periodically for results. This model requires periodic backing off.
Triggering APIs can be more difficult to implement because mobile clients aren't trustworthy. The Polling model is better for designing mobile APIs. You can also avoid the difficulties associated with slow network connections by having all data necessary to render a page.

Caching policies must be carefully planned and implemented.

It is important to set up caching policies if the API's data doesn't change often. You can also choose to store the data in memory rather than reading it from the desk every time. If you are thinking of implementing caching on the servers, provide a unique method for validating the caching process. It is easy to save valuable time and resources by focusing your efforts on caching your client app, which uses your API.

API assets can be given easy-to-understand labels

Your API's name will impact how users understand it. To avoid confusion about API usage, it is important to thoroughly research the terms you are using to name the API assets, viz. methods, objects, properties, etc.

For non-public APIs, authentication should not be overlooked.

Hackers are all around. It is essential to have an efficient authentication system in place if you plan to create a non-public API. It is not the traditional Token Authenticatable strategy that includes an authentication mechanism in private APIs. Instead, it is a smart idea to use HTTPs Basic Authentication. This HTTP Basic authentication is implemented in every HTTP client and requires that the user enter a valid username, password, and email address to access the API. You can allow users to log in to the API using private access tokens. These tokens can be used in CI server installations.

Include well-written documentation with your API

Your API design project's most important aspect is its documentation. Developers can be frustrated by unclear or ambiguous documentation and may abandon your product instead of a new one. Therefore, it is important to provide clear, concise documentation that does not contain code snippets. Developers love looking through examples. To ensure a clear understanding of your API's utilities and APIs, include them.
If you wish to give code snippets, consider including them in other test cases. This will ensure that your documentation is up-to-date every time an API is moderated. You have two options: a custom-made solution or a well-known ready-made tool like Apple to help you build the correct documentation for your API.

It's all wrapped up

Let's hope the post above will be a helpful reference when you next plan to create an API that mobile clients can use. Follow the tips, and you will be able to create a flawless mobile API in no time.

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