— If you haven’t already read Part
1 of this article, I strongly recommend you to do it first. —
Have you ever run into difficulty when
connecting RESTful services? You are not alone. Many junior developers, as well
as seasoned professionals have struggled with this problem. The great news is
that the unique challenges posed by these developments, can be lessened with
the use of Swagger.
This article continues the previous
one with a deeper description of this open source framework, which is a
must choice for serious API (Application Programming Interface) developers.
Then, it moves on to explaining the basic reasons why you should use it, and
how it is employed by DBSync to help you create connectors to apps of your
choice, in an easy-to-follow manner. At the end, it includes a link to the next
article of this series that explains you how to create customized connectors
for your apps.
What is
Swagger
Swagger is an open source framework
consisting of standards and tools, which help you to design, build, document
and consume RESTful web services.
Started as a project by Tony Tam in 2011,
it grew in size and importance. At present it is sponsored by SmartBear
Software, and it has been eagerly accepted by the market.
Why use
Swagger
Reason 1:
Add value to your products by creating an ecosystem based on common knowledge
Swagger consists of a set of rules and
tools for describing APIs. Its rules standardize practices in areas such as
parameter definition, path, responses and more. These tools are language
agnostic, meaning that you can choose the programming language you prefer.
Having a common way helps create a system
that can be easily connected to others, and that can be updated and modified
without difficulty by many developers.
An example is Netflix, which is based on a
microservice architecture that provided an innovative and efficient way of
delivering a service at scale and in real time. As a result, the company rose
to become a market leader.
Reason 2:
Gain efficiency through better communication
We all know how difficult it is to
translate a business idea into a programming success. One of the main
challenges is communication: business, analysts, product managers and users
find it difficult to understand the techies’ language.
Swagger is great in this regard, as one of
its characteristics is that it is easily comprehensible for developers and
non-developers alike, creating a great communication channel.
Thus, for example, product managers,
analysts and even users can easily give input about the design, and developers
can then translate these ideas into software.
This communication is possible not only
during development, but also during testing and documentation, helping create a
system that is complete, easy-to-understand and customer oriented.
Reason 3:
Use a widely proven tool
Yelp is a company that handles reviews and
bookings for businesses. When a company like Yelp, which deals with thousands
of people making reviews relies on Swagger, you can be assured that the
effectiveness of the framework has been properly proven.
With many important players – such as
Netflix, Akana and Yelp – relying on Swagger for their API developments, you
should have no doubt about using it.
In addition Swagger has the support of
several big companies, such as Microsoft, IBM and Google, through the Open API
Initiative.
Reason
4: Develop with an open source framework
By being open source, Swagger carries many
of the benefits of crowd based development, such as cost savings, flexibility,
and accountability.
Open source communities have a strong value
sense, which results in responsible and efficient products. In addition, many
volunteers test its usage, creating a safe option. Besides, you can also be a
contributor and join the ranks with giants such as Microsoft and Google by
supporting Swagger’s development.
Thus, whether you are a big player with a
fat budget or not, you can always benefit by choosing Swagger.
How DBSync
uses Swagger
DBSync Cloud uses the main advantages of
Swagger to let you create the connector you need. The only thing that you
actually need is a JSON file with all the information describing your app’s
API.
Figure 1 – Creating a connector
Once you have your JSON file, DBSync helps
you create a connector to your app that you can use to create data transfers to
other apps, such as Salesforce, Quickbooks and many more. You can even create
your customized connector to any two apps, and later on connect them both via DBSync.
Once you have the two apps mapped to each other, your data transfer is
straightforward.
Figure 2 – Integrating applications
Thus, you can design and build an
integrated ecosystem that best fulfills the needs of your business. The
possibilities are almost unlimited.
Conclusion
APIs are not new, and at present, they are
increasingly used to integrate apps. Basically, when you create a Swagger
compliant API, you are allowing others to make use of your app. This translates
into more business opportunities, more customers and better profits. Swagger,
is the right technology to achieve this.
In Part
3 of this article, we will learn how to create a connector to your app with
DBSync, by using your API’s JSON.
Find this exciting? Go to our website and try any of our products for free.
If you have any queries, contact us, and we will contact you as soon as
possible.
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