Erik Wilde
Digital Catalyst, Erik works in the Axway Catalyst team and focuses on API strategy, API programs, and API platforms. His main goal is to make sure that organizations make the right decisions for using APIs as the foundation of their digital transformation initiatives. Erik has a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich, is the author of many articles, papers, and books. He is a frequent speaker at global API events and contributes to standardization activities to help improve the way APIs are designed, managed, and used."
Practical API Security: The OWASP API Security Top Ten
API security is on everyone’s mind: after all, APIs always open up network-accessible interfaces that previously may not have been exposed. Making sure that...
Microservice API Patterns: A Language for API Design
In the overall API lifecycle, it is important to first align APIs with business capabilities, turn this into a clear and business-aligned value proposition...
API Reviews: Scaling Up API Governance
API reviews are part of the overall API lifecycle. They are used to check that an API’s design matches the API design guidelines. API...
Get better APIs with Conway’s Law
Mel Conway formulated his famous law in 1967 and it was a reflection on how large organizations work and produce results. The "official version"...
Using Prism for API mocking and Contract Testing
What is API mocking? In short, it's about creating a simplified version of an API that works at a mechanical level, even though it's...
A brief history of API management and where it’s going
The term "API Management" is used frequently, but it can mean different things to different people. There is no single "right" or "wrong" way...
API terminology explained: Gateways, Portals, API Catalogs, Marketplaces
The API Management space has evolved a lot over the last two decades. With APIs becoming increasingly important as the foundational building blocks of...
What is HTTP/3 and what does it mean for APIs?
The majority of APIs today are based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP has been around for a very long time, in computer...
Representing Problem Details in HTTP APIs: An introduction to RFC 7807
Almost all APIs have a way of how problems and errors can be reported, making it easier to understand for the API consumer that...
Jeff Bezos’ API mandate: What the five rules mean and do
In 2002, Jeff Bezos issued what is now known as the API mandate: The new direction at Amazon would be that all capabilities would have...
Hands-on with Spectral: Using API linting for better API design and API governance
Spectral is an open-source API linting tool (powered by Stoplight) that allows users to write rules which then can be used to check API descriptions....
Peloton’s API leak: Security requires a combination of technology and processes
Recently, a long-lasting security vulnerability exposing private user data through Peloton's API was made public. It's worth diving into what happened, as it's a...
Hypermedia APIs: What are they and what can they do for you?
Like anything in life, APIs come in different "flavors." In the case of APIs, these are called "API Styles," and there are five major...
How to make five billion dollars with APIs: API Monetization at eBay
API Monetization is on everybody's mind: How can I make money with APIs? How can I justify my investments in API-related activities?
But all too often, direct...
GS1 Digital Link: An API for Every Thing
Everybody "knows" GS1 because it's the organization that standardizes the EAN/UPC barcodes that we find on pretty much every product that we buy in our supermarkets and...
Centralized Management of Decentralization: API Governance at scale
APIs and API management creates the most value when the APIs are closely aligned with value production and flows so that it becomes easier...
Why your API platform needs to be open
API platforms are an essential ingredient of digital transformation. APIs provide digital access to assets and capabilities of your organization, and all APIs together (your API...
Hyrum’s Law: What it means for API Design and Management
The promise and challenges of loose coupling
One of the main aspects of APIs is that they should provide loose coupling, meaning that providers and consumers...
REST vs. GraphQL: Making the right choice
In order to better understand the "REST vs. GraphQL" debate, it's useful to look at where GraphQL comes from. It started with Facebook's observation...
From APIs to value: The future of API Portals
APIs are the fundamental building blocks of Digital Transformation: They expose capabilities, and when used in the context of an API-First Strategy they also demand that everything...
API Archaeology: Guiding the API Journey
Part of the Axway Catalyst mission is to help organizations on their API Journey. As part of this mission, we speak to many organizations in various stages...
API linting with Spectral: What is it and how does it work?
API linting is the process of making sure that APIs are not just technically correct (which is the realm of validation tooling), but that...
Monolith modernization with APIs and Microservices: What is the strangler pattern and how to...
Any organization that is not starting from scratch has existing IT systems and infrastructure in place. In many cases, this legacy has issues keeping...
An API is a promise
What is an API? This is an interesting question that can be answered on many levels. There certainly is a technical side to it, then...
Building blocks for HTTP APIs: IETF 109 Working Group Meeting
As discussed in a recent interview with Darrell Miller, one of the chairs of the new "Building Blocks for HTTP APIs" working group, this working...
What are the Lifecycle Phases of API Products?
The phases of the Product Lifecycle occur in four major stages: Introduction Growth Maturity Decline
These are the starting points for the amount of time...
What is the future of digital transformation and how to plan for it?
Many companies see digital transformation as a project — but this is a misconception on various levels.
Digital transformation explained
Digital transformation means that your company...
API Lifecycle Management: Deprecation and Sunsetting
APIs are products and go through the same lifecycle as all products. They get created, see some usage, get improved over time based on...
API Formats: Why JSON won over XML
The vast majority of APIs today are using the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to represent the structured data that they are exchanging. While JSON has been...
API governance: What is it and why does it matter?
One topic that often comes up in organizations past a certain size is the question of API governance. This simply reflects the inherent tension...
Building Blocks for HTTP APIs
APIs are Languages, and like with any language, it is important to think about who is using them and how to design the language.
When...
API is a language!
There are many different ways in which you can answer the seemingly simple question: "What is an API?"
Previous discussions focused on the technical fundamentals ("it...
Designing APIs for extensibility
The main role of APIs is to serve as the connective fabric between different components and capabilities within an organization and across organizations.
One important aspect of...
Multiple API Gateways: Why does it happen and what are the challenges?
Many organizations have multiple API Gateways in place. This can complicate the goal of creating an organization-wide approach for managing and using APIs. However,...
Managing API versions: The API lifecycle
Managing API versions are part of the bigger picture of API lifecycle management. Most importantly, the goal is to make sure that API consumption...
What is Semantic Versioning?
Semantic Versioning is a versioning scheme for using meaningful version numbers (that's why it is called Semantic Versioning). Specifically, the meaning revolves around how API versions...
KPIs for APIs: How they are used in the real world
APIs are an essential component of today's digitalization and digital transformation efforts. But how can you define and measure the status and success of...
Designing Private, Partner, and Public APIs: What’s the Difference?
One of the defining characteristics of an API is that it should be reusable, but that doesn’t say much about the scope of an...
The 5 API styles: Understanding REST, OpenAPI, HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, and Kafka
APIs are languages that allow applications to exchange information. Today, there are many possible technologies that can be used to design and implement APIs....
How to run successful API Programs: Five necessary areas
Establishing and running an API program is a step that many organizations have done or are planning to do. The observation often starts from initial experiences...
The API-First Digital government approach, part 1: Trends
In a three-part blog series, we review the emerging digital government movement around the world. In this first part, we look at the trends...
International Interoperability of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: A view of goals & opportunities
This article discusses how to exchange COVID-19 contact tracing information between countries that use contact tracing apps and infrastructure. It takes a structured look...
How to Design and Build Great Web APIs: An Interview with Mike Amundsen
Many supply chains are facing challenges and require new ways of collaboration. The need for digital transformation has become more pressing than ever. Broadly...