You're reading from RESTful API Design Patterns and Best Practices Master REST API design with real-world patterns, lifecycle management, and OpenAPI practices

Product type Paperback

Published in Oct 2025

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781835885284

Length 406 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

JavaScript

Tools

.NET

Concepts

REST API

Authors (2):

Andrzej Jarzyna

Samir Amzani

View More author details

Table of Contents (20) Chapters

Preface

1. The Apprentice’s Study – Preparing for the Craft

2. The “Why” of API Development FREE CHAPTER

3. API as a Product: Designing APIs with a Product Mindset

4. Understanding Application and API Lifecycles

5. Applying Domain-Driven Design to APIs

6. The Wizard’s Grimoire – Mastering the Fundamentals of REST

7. Comparing and Choosing the Right API Style

8. REST Design Constraints and Maturity Models

9. Constructing an API Design Domain Model

10. Designing and Managing Effective API Contracts

11. The Archmage’s Circle – Forging and Evolving API Contracts

12. Understanding the OpenAPI Specification

13. OpenAPI as a Contract: Best Practices and Implementation

14. Using JSON Schema to Define Your Object Models

15. Don’t Hate Your Hypermedia: Creating APIs for Humans and AIs

16. API Change Management: Strategies for Versioning and Evolution

17. Unlock Your Book’s Exclusive Benefits

How to unlock these benefits in three easy steps

18. Other Books You May Enjoy

19. Index

OpenAPI as a contract for your API

Remember when we talked about APIs as products in earlier chapters, and how important it is to treat API design as a contract between you and your users? Well, OpenAPI Specification is where that idea comes to life. It’s not just documentation; it’s your API contract in a format that both computers and humans can understand.

Think of your OpenAPI document as the official rulebook for your API. It clearly states what items customers can buy, how they can search the inventory, what information they need to provide when placing an order, and what responses they’ll get back. Both your developers and your API users can rely on this contract to know exactly what to expect.

The beauty of OpenAPI is that once you’ve created this contract, it powers a whole toolkit of helpful solutions. Your single OAS document can generate interactive documentation that lets developers try out API calls right in their browser—imagine...