I’ve been working on two talks for API Days in Paris next week. These talks are at two opposite ends of the API spectrum for me. The first one, API Is Not Just REST, is rooted in the technology of APIs, but then touches lightly on the business and politics of APIs. The second one, a regulatory subway map for PSD2, is all about the politics of APIs, but then touches lightly on the business and technology of APIs. I have the outlines for both talks done, and I’m working on the narrative and slides for each, along the way I’m really caught by how different each end of the spectrum is, and requires me to use a different part of my brain–something I think really defines the yin and yang of APIs.
When I’m down at the protocol level of APIs, thinking about the details of HTTP, TCP, and the nuance of how headers are used, and the messages we pass back and forth, the politics of APIs do not matter to me. My developer and architect brain is absorbed with the technical details, and the human or political consequences of my decisions really do not matter all that much. As long as things are technically correct, and my responses and requests are doing what is expected, I am good. It is easy for me to be railroaded within this technical silo, and I wouldn’t ever need to be concerned for the business and politics of it all if my work as API Evangelist didn’t force me out of my comfort zone. https://goo.gl/dyxFw6 #DataIntegration #ML
