Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

June 2021

API Gateway vs. Service Mesh

Service mesh expert Cody De Arkland explains the differences between an API gateway and service mesh and how they work together. An API gateway helps companies offer APIs “as a product” to internal or external clients/users via a centralized ingress point. They can also govern and control how they are being exposed and onboarded via a full lifecycle APIM platform. API gateways are commonly used when different applications need to talk to each other and create an abstraction layer between the clients and the underlying APIs.

How to Send Behavioral Emails with MailChimp and Moesif

In this guide you’ll learn how to send Moesif behavioral emails with Mailchimp. Moesif behavioral emails is a feature that automatically sends emails to customers based on their API usage. This can be used to notify customers about technical issues, such as: hitting rate limits, using deprecated APIs, or trying to run broken integrations. You can even use it to trigger business-related events such as when an item is shipped.

Extending Connectivity to Cloud Native and VM-based Applications

We all know that what customers see in the market is, in fact, only a small percent of the shifts happening within our organizations. Recently, Time Magazine stated that “Every Company is a Tech Company… The Disruption is Just Beginning.” We’re seeing it in the way we wait in lines, find places to stay when traveling and work from anywhere. The disruption is distribution, and it impacts how we live and build applications.

Data Hiding and Microservices: Information Management That Supports Independent Deployment and Teams

A significant part of breaking a monolithic application into microservices involves a redesign of how the application manages data — usually through a data management strategy called “information hiding.” In this respect, breaking a monolith into microservices isn’t just about establishing clear separations between the code for different services. It’s also about creating clear separations between the data that each microservice interacts with. Why information hiding?

5 Architectural Patterns for Securing Connectivity at Scale

In the age of surgical robots, smart refrigerators, self-driving vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles, connectivity undoubtedly is a foundational block for our modern world. Connectivity not only enables easy access to resources, but it also opens up opportunities to drive innovation by connecting isolated systems. Connectivity drives digital transformation.

How DreamFactory Prevents SQL Injection Attacks

A SQL injection attack is an attempt to modify the syntax of a SQL query executed in conjunction with a user-initiated action within a software application. Some examples of user-initiated actions include searching for a product within an e-commerce catalog, adding a comment to a blog post, and creating a new user account. In each of these scenarios, the user uses a form to submit input (e.g.

Complexity Reigns, rein it in with Kong Konnect - APAC Meetup - Brad Drysdale

We live in a connected world, and our digital experiences are formed by thousands of services acting as building blocks. As the world becomes more decentralized and services take over, cloud connectivity becomes the key differentiating factor of digital experiences for any organization.

A Sneak Peek at Scaling Without (So Much) Pain [Destination: Scale]

Lens, the Kubernetes IDE, is an open source Kubernetes dashboard that enables users to easily see what objects are running in their cluster and interact with them. In that way, it has been helping to take some of the pain out of Kubernetes operations and development, but now it includes features specifically aimed at those of us with large environments.

Creating an Interactive Developer Portal with GraphQL

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to get to the next level of API documentation using Kong Developer Portal with GraphQL. In my example, I’ll be using Kong Konnect Enterprise Version 2.4, but the version number does not really matter. I also configured my workspace with one service that points to a Star Wars API endpoint with a GraphQL interface (swapi-graphql.netlify.com). We’ll also be using an open source tool called GraphiQL for interactive documentation of a GraphQL endpoint. With GraphiQL, we’ll see requests, responses and automated generation of documentation based on the endpoint.

DreamFactory 4.8.0 Released

Break out the party hats, DreamFactory 4.8.0 has been released! This release focuses on user experience, notably with regards to database API generation. The most popular database connectors (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle) have long included a lengthy list of options, and it hasn’t been obvious which are required and which are optional. To remedy this we’ve broken the service creation form into three sections: Basic, Caching, and Optional Advanced Settings.

Okta and Kong Konnect Part 3: Implementing Introspection Flow

In our third Kong and Okta tutorial, we’ll go through the introspection flow implementation. The introspection flow is part of the token validation process. Kong Gateway evaluates the injected token at the request processing time to see if it's still valid to the upstream services. The evaluation hits a specific Okta endpoint, passing the received token. Based on the response provided by Okta, Kong Gateway accepts or rejects the request.

[Online Meetup] Kong Kubernetes Ingress Controller 2.0

Kong Kubernetes Ingress Controller (OSS) has launched 2.0 with a number of awesome new features and fixes. Overview of 2.0 Major architectural improvements Kubernetes Testing Framework (KTF) & new testing strategies KIC 2.0 controller manager And more Kong’s Online Meetups are a place to learn about technologies within the Kong open source ecosystem. This interactive forum will give you the chance to ask our engineers questions and get ramped up on information relevant to your Kong journey.

Display Moesif Reports Within Tableau

As a product leader, there’s no better way to show the value of your API platform then by graphically displaying key metics. If you’re already working with Tableau, it’s easy to extract key charts, or workspaces, from Moesif’s dashboards and insert them into your visualization platform. The information from Moesif will be inserted into Tableau as a web page object.

How Your API Ecosystem Can Deliver Benefits to Your Business

When you introduce an API to your technology stack, you must also consider how it will interact with the other moving parts of your business. This is especially true if you have an external-facing API. Consider the end user, software vendors, business partners, third-party developers, and internal stakeholders. It can be complicated to juggle all of these interests, but the benefits to your business pay off immensely. So how does your API ecosystem deliver benefits to your business?

Security Game Plan for Your Microservices Applications

The demand for digital transformation has accelerated, with 62% of technology leaders sharing that they fear they are at risk of being displaced by competitors who innovate more quickly. Enterprises are increasingly transitioning from monolithic to microservices architecture, with the goal to accelerate application development, speed up innovation and reduce time to market.

Containerization in a Cloud Native World: An Interview With Reza Shafii

Multi-cloud infrastructure is changing the way companies approach their software architecture. What started solely as gateway traffic management has evolved into full lifecycle API management. I recently sat down with Reza Shafii, Kong’s VP of product, for a blog series where we explore how full lifecycle service management ties into the concept of cloud native.

"Gateway Mode" in Kuma and Kong Mesh

One of the most common questions I get asked is around the relationship between Kong Gateway and Kuma or Kong Mesh. The linking between these two sets of products is a huge part of the unique “magic” Kong brings to the connectivity space. In this blog post and the video below, we’re going to jump right into breaking down the relationship between these products and how you can use them together. First, let’s break down a couple of the terms that are involved.

Migrating from Kong Gateway OSS to Konnect

Konnect is a hybrid cloud control plane managed by Kong that launched in May. Konnect provides an easy way to create and configure service configurations through a UI, rather than using the admin API and HTTP requests to configure your Kong Gateway. On top of that, it provides usage analytics, a developer portal and role-based access control for service configuration. If you have a Kong Gateway OSS installation, you may be wondering how you can move your instance over to Konnect.

Accelerate Digital Business With APIOps - Part 1

Operating APIs and microservices at scale relies on the right processes and company culture. APIOps is the name for this overall approach. If done right, organizations can accelerate digital business with APIOps. It combines modern automation tooling with best practice engineering principles to ensure that the organization delivers with continuous quality as well as speed. In this blog series we explore the triggers for adopting APIOps, and its impact, through the story of “Acme.”

Upgrading Your DreamFactory Instance

Upgrading your DreamFactory instance is in most cases a very straightforward process, generally requiring less than thirty minutes to complete in addition to the time spent configuring a new host server. Most of the work is automated thanks to the platform installers we’ve included with each release since version 3.0 (click here to learn more). We’ve recently updated our guide to include a new comprehensive section on upgrading your environment, which you can read here.

APIs & Integration: How Can APIs Help Solve Your Challenges?

As the vast majority of organizations set their sights on modernizing their business, they’ll need to integrate their growing application library. In today’s world of business technology, this means making use of APIs. The many other advantages for APIs will do your organization no good without a properly integrated foundation. But sometimes integration will come with unexpected challenges.

4 Reasons Why Organizations Use Open APIs

You can’t leverage today’s business technology without making use of APIs. Nor would you want to. The advantages and benefits of API usage are too great to pass up. APIs have evolved to be more than just useful bits of code. They can be products that expand your business offerings and turn you into a platform. But not all APIs are alike. There are three main types of APIs: private, partner, and open. Private APIs are exclusively for a business’s internal use.