“Some APIs are loved by developers, others not. The difference is in their developer experience.”
Developer experience is important when designing software, but when it comes to APIs, it becomes essential.
API Predictions 2024: REST is taking a rest, and we’re entering an era of API diversity
Postman's Joyce Lin forecasts a future dominated by low-code tools fueled by generative AI, driven by the growing importance of APIs, developer-centric experiences, and a broader user base.
As Lin (Senior Director of Developer Relations at Postman) says, this shift, alongside investments in voice and chat interfaces, reflects a dynamic landscape where developers increasingly explore alternatives like GraphQL and gRPC.
Let’s see what will be the hot things among developers in 2024.
Generative AI fuels Low-Code Tool Investments
“The number one trend I think we’ll be seeing is an investment in low-code tools powered by generative AI“, says Lin. She highlighted that Postman specializes in crafting developer tools tailored for API work, so recently, she has seen more teams seeking low-code options.
This is indicative of the rising importance of APIs within businesses, the prioritization of developer experience, and also the expansion of who is working with APIs (it’s more than just developers).
This demand, she adds, when coupled with the latest availability of generative AI frameworks, is already resulting in tooling companies investing heavily in redesigning software interfaces to interact with voice and chat, a new layer of abstraction designed to increase developer productivity.
Diverse API Evolution
There is, also, diversifying API technologies. “In the Postman State of the API report, we asked 40,000 developers what API technologies they’re using.
REST is still by far the most popular architectural style because it’s so ubiquitous, but has been declining in market share usage, year after year.
This is the case, claims Lin, because more developers are looking to other API technologies to address issues they face with REST; for example, GraphQL and gRPC were designed to avoid over-/under-fetching. Also, developers have more options for real-time communication, such as webhooks and WebSockets.
To conclude, Joyce Lin emphasized that developers are actively exploring diverse options, leading to the creation of multi-protocol solutions within their organizations. This trend extends across various aspects of the tech stack, encompassing infrastructure, frameworks, tooling, and API technologies.
