The 85 Stops Along The API Lifecycle That I Track On

I am preparing a talk for tomorrow, and I needed a new list of each stop along the API lifecycle, and since each of my project exist as Github repositories, and are defined as a YAML and JSON data store, I can simply define a new liquid template for generating a new HTML listing of all the stops along the API lifecycle–after generating this list I figured I’d share here as a story.

Here are the 85 stops along the API lifecycle landscape from my vantage point as the API Evangelist:

Definitions
Design
Versioning
Hypermedia
DNS
Low Hanging Fruit
Scraping
Database
Deployment
Rogue
Microservices
Algorithms
Search
Machine Learning
Proxy
Virtualization
Containers
Management
Serverless
Portal
Getting Started
Documentation
Frequently Asked Questions
Support
Communications
Road Map
Issues
Change Log
Monitoring
Testing
Performance
Caching
Reliability
Authentication
Encryption
Vulnerabilities
Breaches
Security
Terms of Service (TOS)
Surveillance
Privacy
Cybersecurity
Reclaim
Transparency
Observability
Licensing
Copyright
Accessibility
Branding
Regulation
Patents
Discovery
Client
Command Line Interface
Bots
Internet of Things
Industrial
Network
IDE
SDK
Plugin
Browsers
Embeddable
Visualization
Analysis
Logging
Aggregation
iPaaS
Webhooks
Integrations
Migration
Backups
Real Time
Orchestration
Voice
Spreadsheets
Investment
Monetization
Plans
Partners
Certification
Acquisitions
Evangelism
Showcase
Deprecation

I’m always presenting my API lifecycle research as a listing, or in a linear fashion. I always feel like I should be creating an actual lifecycle visualization, but then I always end up feeling like I should just invest in my subway API map work, and create more robust way to represent how the API lifecycle truly looks.

Anyways, these 85 areas represent the scope of my API industry research, and provide a framework for thinking about not just the individual API lifecycle, but also the bigger picture of our API operations and partnerships. Not all of these areas apply to every API provider, but they do provide one perspective of the API landscape that all API providers can learn from. If there are any other stops along the lifecycle you think should be represented, I’d love to hear your thoughts. For example, I’m looking at adding two new areas: 1) training, and 2) fake. Helping me track on how API providers are training internally, with partners, and 3rd party developers, as well as think about the world of API driven fake news, products, advertising, users, and other illnesses emerging across the landscape.