Is there research that shows that a well maintained API adds value to large established companies?
Maintaining a good API for an ever changing product is VERY non-trivial. Designing easy to consume APIs and writing good documentation requires some specialized skills. Internal APIs are often very different than external ones. Some times APIs need to be duplicated which can make breaking changes of the underlying systems more complex.
I can see the value of APIs for a growing company that is trying to establish itself, but there must be a line somewhere.
I suspect a large amount of API support over the last decade has been driven by brand development and recruiting.
> I can see the value of APIs for a growing company that is trying to establish itself, but there must be a line somewhere. I suspect a large amount of API support over the last decade has been driven by brand development and recruiting.
It brought INSANE value to Twitter in it's early days.
The API allowed a client to be written for every platform around by domain experts way before the Twitter team could get to them. They got Apple to integrate it natively on iOS 5. That's right, the OS had built-in support for Twitter. You didn't need to install an app.
It's one of the things that cemented Twitter's presence in the social media's landscape.
Maintaining a good API for an ever changing product is VERY non-trivial. Designing easy to consume APIs and writing good documentation requires some specialized skills. Internal APIs are often very different than external ones. Some times APIs need to be duplicated which can make breaking changes of the underlying systems more complex.
I can see the value of APIs for a growing company that is trying to establish itself, but there must be a line somewhere.
I suspect a large amount of API support over the last decade has been driven by brand development and recruiting.