Api naming
API naming is the practice of assigning identifiers that communicate an API element's purpose and distinguish it from others.
API Design Patterns
An API name is a user-visible identifier assigned to an API element such as a function, method, resource, or field.
- How it is used
- Guides naming decisions for public API elements whose identifiers users depend on across source code and integrations.
- How deep it goes
- Explains naming qualities, context, conventions, units, and custom-method syntax, while stopping short of implementation mechanics.
- Examples
- Uses rocket-launching paths, verb-noun RPC names, preposition pitfalls, units, and richer data types as concrete naming cases.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate and choose API names that communicate intent, fit established conventions, avoid ambiguity, and resist costly changes.
The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition
An API name is the identifying label that communicates an API's subject matter, business concept, use case, or offered capabilities.
- How it is used
- Guides API discovery, comprehension, boundary-setting, and long-term evolution for consumers choosing among available APIs.
- How deep it goes
- Explains naming criteria, timing, trade-offs, and concrete alternatives, but does not detail a naming syntax or formal naming standard.
- Examples
- Compares “API,” “Web Service,” “New Banking Architecture,” “Banking,” “Account,” and “Online Money Transfer.”
- What you can do after
- Apply API naming by selecting a durable, capability-focused label after clarifying user needs and API granularity.
Read how The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition explains api naming →
Related concepts
- domain conceptuses · A domain concept is an idea, entity, action, rule, or other meaningful element of a problem or business domain represented in software.
- use caseuses · A use case is a description of a situation or interaction in which a system, method, or capability is applied to achieve or support a goal or outcome.
- url pathconfigures · A URL path is the hierarchical component of a URL that identifies a resource or route within its host.
- api discoveryaddresses · API discovery is the process of identifying deployed or exposed APIs, their operations, and their interfaces for use, management, or security assessment.
- contractpart of · An API contract is a specification of the operations, data, and behavioral expectations that govern interactions between software components.
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