There is surprisingly little written about good API design. Maybe it's because the important things to say have already been said, but I have my doubts that that is the reason.
I suspect it's partly because of the difficulty involved in measuring the quality of a given API's design. How do you separate the success resulting from the usefulness or popularity of the technology from the design of the API?
That was the first thing I though on starting to read this. How do they know they've actually got it right? Feedback from users?
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Thanks for this post! This is the kind of content I wish HN had more of.
There was a discussion in reddit about pthread api design http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/bmnkl/pthreads_... .
Edit: sorry this was replied to smunz's comment.
Absolutely. Any suggestions for places to find more content like this?
Not to leave HN, just to complement it ;)
There is surprisingly little written about good API design. Maybe it's because the important things to say have already been said, but I have my doubts that that is the reason.
I suspect it's partly because of the difficulty involved in measuring the quality of a given API's design. How do you separate the success resulting from the usefulness or popularity of the technology from the design of the API?
That was the first thing I though on starting to read this. How do they know they've actually got it right? Feedback from users?