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API Development Checklist
Planning and Design
Define clear API objectives and target audience
Design a consistent, RESTful API interface
Use API modeling languages like Swagger or RAML for documentation
Security and Authentication
Implement strong authentication, using OAuth or API keys
Ensure all data transfers use HTTPS to secure data in transit
Validate and sanitize all input to prevent common security threats
Development and Testing
Follow API-first development practices
Write unit and integration tests for each API endpoint
Use API testing tools like Postman for manual testing and debugging
Documentation and Versioning
Provide comprehensive and understandable API documentation
Version the API to manage changes and maintain backward compatibility
Communicate deprecations and changes clearly to consumers
Performance and Scalability
Optimize database interactions and queries for performance
Implement caching strategies to reduce load and improve response times
Design the API for scalability, considering load balancers and horizontal scaling
Monitoring and Maintenance
Monitor API usage and performance metrics
Set up logging and error tracking for proactive maintenance
Regularly review and update the API to address any technical debt or emerging issues