TIL tips for making a API Wrapper
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TAGS: javascript reddit
On Reddit, a poster u/Revelnova asks about advice with publishing their first NPM package.
Via u/Revelnova:
The objective for the client is to make transforming and fetching content data super easy for developers using the CMS platform.
Their stance was that by making the client as simple as possible, I’m not locking users into the use cases I imagine but instead leaves room for developers to build features on top of the client.
The feedback via r/ecafyelims:
In my experience, the best API wrappers are the ones that are so thin, they're transparent.
You might already do this, but just some suggestions:
- The API wrapper should do zero "interpreting" (or as close to zero as you can get).
- Aim so that the wrapper doesn't even need to document the endpoints because the endpoints are documented by the API, and there's no difference in use.
- Don't code the endpoints or parameters into the wrapper, but instead the endpoints are variables which get passed by the user.
This is all great.
r/ecafyelims has one big one:
Aim so that if the API is updated to allow a new endpoint or parameter, the wrapper will already work because the endpoints are not hard-coded.
For example:
// This method:
// hardcodes params and endpoints
const products = await apiWrapper.getProducts(categoryId, colorName);
// This method:
// opens up more flexibility
const products = await apiWrapper('products').get({categoryId, colorName});
// that way, you can also do this
const stores = await apiWrapper('stores').get({nearZipCode});That way, if the API is updated later to add a new endpoint (e.g. "stores"), you don't have to touch the wrapper. It'll just work.
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Tagged: javascript