Simon Auer

REST in Peace? What does the API protocol of the future look like? Or do we have it already?

Is the perfect API protocol already here, just scattered across REST, GraphQL, and gRPC? This talk builds the ultimate wishlist for the future of APIs.

REST in Peace? What does the API protocol of the future look like? Or do we have it already?
#1about 3 minutes

Why REST APIs are still the industry standard

Despite its age, REST remains the dominant API protocol, similar to other long-lasting technologies from the early 2000s.

#2about 1 minute

Identifying the key limitations of REST APIs

REST APIs commonly suffer from over-fetching, under-fetching, undefined structures, request overhead, and a lack of real-time support.

#3about 4 minutes

Categorizing different types of API technologies

APIs can be grouped into resource-oriented (REST, GraphQL), procedure-oriented (RPC), and server-driven UI approaches.

#4about 3 minutes

Deconstructing REST for a future API wishlist

REST provides foundational features like authentication, caching, and a vast client ecosystem, which are essential for any future API protocol.

#5about 3 minutes

How GraphQL improves upon REST's limitations

GraphQL addresses REST's data fetching issues with strong schema-based typing, built-in introspection, and flexible querying capabilities.

#6about 3 minutes

Exploring gRPC for high-performance communication

gRPC offers high performance and low latency for internal services through its remote procedure call model and efficient Protobuf serialization.

#7about 2 minutes

Learning from Firebase's developer experience features

Firebase provides valuable developer experience features like offline persistence, declarative permission rules, and automatic scaling that are desirable in a future API.

#8about 2 minutes

Compiling the wishlist for the API of the future

The ideal future API combines the best features for developer experience, performance, and security, potentially enhanced with AI for documentation and optimization.

#9about 1 minute

Choosing the right API protocol for today's needs

While the ideal future API doesn't exist, developers can choose REST for simplicity, GraphQL for complex data, and gRPC for high-performance microservices.

Related jobs
Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.

Matching moments

Exploring alternatives to REST like gRPC and GraphQL
02:07 MIN

Exploring alternatives to REST like gRPC and GraphQL

API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?!

Tracing the evolution of APIs from RPC to GraphQL
02:52 MIN

Tracing the evolution of APIs from RPC to GraphQL

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Evaluating the pros and cons of REST, GraphQL, and gRPC
03:35 MIN

Evaluating the pros and cons of REST, GraphQL, and gRPC

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Architectural differences between REST, GraphQL, and gRPC
02:21 MIN

Architectural differences between REST, GraphQL, and gRPC

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Choosing the right API for different project needs
01:46 MIN

Choosing the right API for different project needs

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Designing APIs for trust and backward compatibility
02:43 MIN

Designing APIs for trust and backward compatibility

API‑First: How Twilio Designs for Developers - Justin Kitagawa (Twilio)

Questioning the default need for a REST API
02:59 MIN

Questioning the default need for a REST API

Seven Myths, Three Reasons, One Goal

Key takeaways and further API design topics
02:03 MIN

Key takeaways and further API design topics

API Design - Getting Started

Featured Partners

Related Videos

See all videos
API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?!
27:25

API = Some REST and HTTP, right? RIGHT?!

Rustam Mehmandarov

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?
28:16

The Great API Debate: REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?

Alexis Yushin

Awful APIs: A History Lesson in Industry Mistakes and Mishaps
28:55

Awful APIs: A History Lesson in Industry Mistakes and Mishaps

James Seconde

GraphQL: Does it replace SQL, REST or Something Else?
28:12

GraphQL: Does it replace SQL, REST or Something Else?

Gregor Bauer

Designing gRPC APIs - The things they don't tell you
27:17

Designing gRPC APIs - The things they don't tell you

Bastian Eicher

Lessons from Our API Past: Evolving to a Resilient API Future
29:30

Lessons from Our API Past: Evolving to a Resilient API Future

Yousaf Nabi

Lessons learned from observing a billion API requests
23:47

Lessons learned from observing a billion API requests

Pratim Bhosale

Evolving your APIs, a step-by-step approach
28:49

Evolving your APIs, a step-by-step approach

Nicolas Fränkel

Related Articles

View all articles

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.

API Design Lead

API Design Lead

Pyramid Consulting Inc.
Jersey City, United States of America

Remote
$187-199K
Senior
API
AWS Lambda
Microservices
+2
REST API Developer

REST API Developer

Infinitive
Richmond, United States of America

$131-237K
Intermediate
API
GIT
Java
JSON
+11