Glossary

AGM: See API Governance Model

API Design: The act of designing the specific details of how an API will work, including the technologies, standards, and vocabulary used in the API.

API Development Lifecycle: The process for API development that includes designing, implementing, testing, building, deploying, and monitoring APIs.

API Program: An initiative at an organization that tries to define how the organization will collective build and maintain APIs.

API Governance Model (AGM): A model defined by an organization that defines how it will apply governance to their APIs based on their agreed-upon styles and standards.

Backend for a Frontend (BFF): Commonly refers to an API that provides the backend for a specific UI. Organizations that use BFFs may have different APIs for their web, mobile, and desktop applications.

Code-First: An approach to API development that generates the API design reference from the implementation. This commonly stands in contrast to Design-First.

Code Generation: In the context of API development, code generation refers to the process of generating client and server code from API designs.

Conversational Language: The language—including terms, concepts, standards, principles, and practices—an organization uses to design and develop APIs.

Design-First: An approach to API development that encourages people to consider the design of the API before working its implementation. This commonly stands in contrast to Code-First.

Domain-Specific Language (DSL): A language that is used for describing a specific domain. This stands in contrast to general-purpose programming languages.

General-Purpose Format: An API design format meant for a broader use and for many different kinds of API designs. OpenAPI is an example of a general-purpose format.

Format-Oriented Approach: An approach to API development that orients the API development lifecycle around general-purpose formats and uses tooling to ensure the API design matches the organization's Conversational Language. This stands in contrast to the Language-Oriented Approach.

Language-Oriented Approach: An approach to API development that orients the API development lifecycle around the language the organization uses to design APIs. This stands in contrast to the Format-Oriented Approach.

Microservice Architecture: An approach to building systems that encourages organizations to build small, single-purpose, self-contained services rather than monolithic applications.

OpenAPI: A general-purpose API description language for describing APIs.

Tailored DSL: A DSL tailored to the needs and Conversational Language of an organization.

Tooling: Software, either built or purchased.