APIs have a problem with accessibility. Could they be made more inclusive and available to citizen developer using a low-code API approach?
Low-Code API Integration Is Required
Possibly the most effective approach to illustrate the necessity of low code no code platforms is to frighten you with some code. Consider the scenario in which you want your application to start a direct deposit into a bank account.
You use the Stripe API because you don’t want to create a financial service from start. Create an account, get a key, and start reading the “Getting Started” guides. Look over their in-depth documentation to learn how to establish a payout.
This is rather simple for experts who are familiar with HTTP requests and JSON. For assistance in your own environment, Stripe documentation generally generates sample requests in a variety of languages, including PHP, Ruby, Python, and others.
What if, though, your users are more accustomed to using UIs? For non-technical people, integrations are fairly mysterious. Even for experienced programmers, some APIs can easily become overly complex and not all of them offer a pleasant developer experience.
Integration Challenges With API
Non-technical users and inexperienced programmers have various difficulties integrating API-driven business logic into their applications:
- Onboarding time: Creating an account, obtaining authentication, reading documentation, and practicing calls all require time.
- Data Types: Requests may fail if headers contain data that does not adhere to defined data types.
- Parsing: Because responses are frequently overly verbose, developers must parse JSON object responses in order to find the information they require.
- Programming language: Due to differences in how each language handles network communication, requests appear differently in each language.
- Breaking Change: Since third-party services frequently undergo changes, you can experience breaking change if you’re not actively managing an integration.
- Variable formats: There are several different API standards. The designs of REST, SOAP, and GraphQL vary slightly. Additionally, publish-subscribe, event-driven, and webhook patterns all have complex communication mechanisms.
- Security and law: Without proper protection, hackers might easily steal user data or cause outages via APIs.
As you can see, the more thoroughly we examine the particulars of real implementation, the simpler a programming task—say, “create a bank deposit”—becomes.
A fully functional application that is safely deployed in the cloud and has a user-friendly, universally accessible UI is not always something you have just because you made an integration work. The procedure of integration must be repeated for each external service you link because one application may have several connectors.
API Classes
For non-professional engineers, who might not feel comfortable using business software from the command line, overcoming these difficulties is a big ask. Integration goes beyond open APIs, which exacerbates the problem.
- Ready-to-use SaaS APIs: (Such as those from Google Sheets, Slack, Sendgrid, and Twilio). These are the connections to third-party tools and programs that operate businesses.
- Database Connections: Many businesses need safe connections to legacy internal MySQL databases or new internal databases.
- Internally Developed Custom Software: these use partner or proprietary APIs. They could be brand-new, API-first microservices or specially designed, old internal programs. Many APIs may be exposed via such middleware.
A low-code application needs to consider every possible environment if it wishes to develop into a comprehensive software development add-on. For many cases, this also incorporates integrating realities.
“Non-Tech” vs. Citizen Developer
So who precisely gains from more open integrations? Any non-professional software developer with only rudimentary programming experience is frequently referred to as a citizen developer. “Most people refer to citizen developers as practical men who can construct technology when they talk about them,
As we’ve previously stated, the need for expert citizen developers is growing due to a shortage of developer skill and a number of other factors affecting the demands for software development.
But for each person working in the low-code industry, the term “citizen developer” tends to mean something slightly different. Non-tech users may include designers who, while not necessarily coming from the software industry, have the necessary UX/UI skills to put together processes. Any application’s design is a crucial component.
Masking the API Complexity
Low-code tools could spur the development of many inventive solutions if they can hide complexity and increase non-engineers’ access to APIs. Low-code allows for infinite inventiveness, and integrations greatly facilitate this. They won’t turn around once they realize the power they possess.
Slack might be an excellent addition, for instance, if an internal application needs chat capability. According to Kharade, low-code layers could mask backend complexity to the point that it doesn’t feel like a request in the background.
The solution is dual-purpose. Visibility and extensibility may be improved by using low-code platforms to manage data and expose APIs.
Workarounds Based on Triggers Were a Good Start
Of course, applications like IFTTT and Zapier have been giving non-technical users access to APIs for years. These systems enable users to set up trigger-based automation by using user-friendly, UI-based front ends over the framework of intricate integrations. This other service ought to perform that if this one does that.
These are some nice tools for putting service-service communications together. These processes are, however, rather cut off from the broader context of application development. For instance, a job application may need more than just the input from a form API connected to a Google Sheets field. A unique database, a method of uploading files, and the capacity to launch an application on the cloud might be necessary for this.
A standardized way to install third-party API connections feels like a natural feature improvement for these platforms as low-code already provides standard components for drag-and-drop.
Increasing Access to Integration
As of right now, ProgrammableWeb lists 23,000 APIs. It’s obvious that there are a lot of cutting-edge, programmable SaaS services available. All with slightly varied integrations, some paid and some open.
A non-tech user may find it challenging to register for and use an API. It takes knowledge to understand authentication, OAuth, headers, payloads, and responses. Third party integrations may need to be “registered once” by a qualified developer, but once they are set up, they “should be drag-and-drop and click-to-use.”
One of the many areas where low-code platforms could excel is in the resolution of integration issues. Consumers may have easier access to the fundamental functionality they seek if platforms can establish (and sustain) connectivity. In light of the COVID-19 dilemma, democratizing effective solutions for traditionally non-tech enterprises is crucial.
In Summation
To be clear, I do not think it is the responsibility of the API provider to provide for end users. They ought to put more effort into making fantastic developer experiences. Naturally, a project’s technical stack will be somewhat determined by the kind of business application you’re seeking to build and your availability of software engineering skills. For your team’s composition and project goals, the JAMstack style, for instance, would work better.
However, the market appears to have capacity for further low-code layers to enable integration. Low-code layers might standardize the difficulties of integration itself, similar to how APIs prevent reinventing the wheel for specialized services.
