Increasingly more, improvement groups are adopting an API-first strategy to software program improvement, through which APIs are the constructing blocks of software program and the whole lot else is constructed round them. That is in distinction to code-first, the place the total utility — together with the API, UI, and different elements — is deliberate out collectively on the identical time.
Based on Postman’s 2024 State of the API report, 74% of respondents adopted the API-first strategy in 2024, in comparison with 66% final yr. “APIs are not an afterthought however the basis of improvement, with between 26 and 50 APIs powering the common utility,” Postman wrote within the report.
The advantages of this technique embody quicker API manufacturing and quicker restoration from failures. This yr, 63% of respondents had been capable of produce an API inside one week (up from 47% final yr). Moreover, organizations following this strategy can usually get better from API failures in below an hour.
“By prioritizing API design, governance, and safety, groups can unlock new alternatives, ship APIs quicker, and guarantee their APIs are protected and optimized for the long run,” Postman stated.
Whereas there are lots of advantages to API-first, it doesn’t fully get rid of the challenges API builders face, akin to poor documentation and lack of correct collaboration.
Thirty-nine % of respondents declare inconsistent documentation is the largest roadblock to API improvement. Forty-four % learn by means of supply code to know their APIs, however over half collaborate with individuals who don’t perceive the code, like product managers, high quality assurance, and designers. Forty-three % additionally battle with getting data from different builders who could also be working asynchronously in numerous time zones.
The report additionally discovered that one third of respondents are utilizing a number of gateways for his or her APIs, signaling that “the normal single-gateway mannequin is changing into out of date.”
One other optimistic discovering is that 62% of respondents are producing earnings from their APIs, and 33% report that APIs make up over 50% of their complete income.
“APIs are not simply technical enablers—they’re revenue-generating merchandise … This alerts the rise of the API-as-a-product mannequin, the place APIs are designed, developed, and marketed as strategic belongings,” the report acknowledged.
And at last AI is leading to elevated API utilization as nicely, with AI-related site visitors on Postman’s platform growing by 73% within the final yr. Corporations at the moment are having to create APIs not only for people, however for interfacing with AI methods as nicely.
“The age of AI is powered by APIs. The speedy adoption of chatbots like ChatGPT has confirmed that AI bots are going to advance the state of human-computer interplay. Till now, now we have primarily been designing APIs for people, however designing APIs for machines will turn out to be an more and more vital space… and AI alone received’t increase productiveness—you want high quality APIs to remain forward in trendy software program,” the report concluded.
For its survey, Postman surveyed greater than 5,600 builders and API professionals, and made observations primarily based on the exercise of the 35 million+ customers on its platform.
