Cos'è l'API nel cloud-native?

APIs, also known as application programming interfaces, connect services within a microservices architecture. They define rules and specifications for interacting software components and data exchange, acting as contracts.
Through loose coupling, APIs are used to deploy, develop, and scale services in a reusable and interoperable space.

Cloud-native and SaaS utilize cloud computing, but they approach software development/delivery differently. Here’s how: 

• Cloud-Native Apps: Built specifically for a cloud. They use containers, microservices, and orchestration; these are required for agility, resilience, and scalability. Companies use cloud-native apps if they need more control over underlying infrastructures and to customize these. DevOps is necessary for deploying and managing cloud-native apps.
• SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): Applications are hosted/managed by a provider, meaning they have limited customization; on the flip side, SaaS apps are accessible to customers online. Businesses pay via subscriptions and use SaaS for deployment/maintenance.

Some of the things you’ll have to think about when designing/managing APIs in cloud-native environments are:

• Multi-API Complexity: When using multiple APIs, it’s important to address potential complexities related to design, management, and documentation. 
• Versioning: è necessario versionare attentamente le API quando si evolvono per evitare problemi di compatibilità con le versioni precedenti. 
• Sicurezza: implementare misure di sicurezza appropriate per mitigare i rischi associati all'utilizzo delle API, poiché possono esporre dati o funzionalità sensibili.
• Prestazioni: assicurarsi di aver ottimizzato le API per prestazioni/scalabilità elevate poiché normalmente gestiscono carichi di lavoro variabili.

Attenersi a queste pratiche: 

• API-First Design: utilizzare la progettazione dell'API prima dell'implementazione del servizio; questo è fondamentale per garantire contratti chiari. 
• Standardizzazione: utilizzare Rest, GraphQL e altri standard di progettazione API; essere coerenti nel farlo. 
• Documentazione: mantenere aggiornata la documentazione API e assicurarsi che sia completa.
• Versioning: definire la strategia di versioning prima di implementarla.  
• Sicurezza: utilizzare le protezioni API, come crittografia, authentication, and authorization enforcement. 
• Monitoring/Analytics: Monitor your API usage/performance over the long run.

Cloud-native discovery detects/registers a cloud environment’s services. After it has done this, the other services in the infrastructure should be able to communicate with and discover them; this is done via identifiers or logical names. 

Dynamism is crucial in cloud environments. Service discovery is also important for communication and loose coupling. 

Service discoverability works within these two aspects as follows: 

• Dynamic Scaling: new instances can be added/removed when demand surges or drops. Service discovery is essential for registering these instances and making them discoverable. 
• Service Discovery: notifies about instance failures prior to their removal from the directory, enabling other services to adjust their routing behavior. This is needed for service uptime and availability.