What is API Quality?. I published this post on LinkedIn on October 2024. I wanted to understand how people familiar with APIs would define quality. The answers varied significantly but mostly revolved around the notion of technical quality.

Here’s a summary of the answers I captured from my LinkedIn post where I asked “What is API Quality?”

One kind of answer points toward a maturity model, hinting that quality is a technical aspect. The idea is to have a multi-dimensional model that includes what the Richardson and Amundsen (PDF) models offer, adding other layers.

Another view gives importance to the functional interface. There’s no quality if the API doesn’t offer what consumers need. Or, in short, quality is tied to usability. To achieve that, there are aspects such as consistency of interface, and semantic clarity, that should be taken into account. I still see this type of quality as technical.

Some answers connect quality to governance and point out that it’s often not easy to convince people the two are tied. Things like linting, having rules that enforce consistency and naming, and making sure APIs use the right architecture and types of operations are part of this line of thought.