Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

February 2024

WSO2 Micro Integrator Demo: Mastering Basic Integration Scenarios and API Exposure with API Manager

This demonstration will take you through building integration from scratch using WSO2 Integration Studio, testing and deploying in WSO2 Micro Integrator and the embedded Micro Integrator in the Integration Studio. This integrations will contain transformation, reading from files, schema validation, error handling and publishing events to Kafka. Thereafter, the particular service which is used by the integration will be exposed as an API using the WSO2 API Manager with seamless integration with both the products.

Announcing Insomnia's New Storage Control To Mandate Local-Only, Cloud, or Git Storage for APIs in the Organization

Today we’re excited to announce that Kong Insomnia has shipped Storage Control, a new enterprise capability that allows administrators in an Insomnia organization to mandate what type of backend storage developers are allowed to use when creating API assets like API collections, API specifications, environments configuration, authentications data, and more.

Federated API Management: Balancing Agility and Governance

Looking to develop more APIs faster (and securely)? Then you have some different API platform deployment models to consider. In this post, we'll define and compare the siloed, centralized, and federated API platform deployment models — and dive into why federated API management is key to striking a balance between agility and governance.

Snowflake vs BigQuery | Key Differences & How to Choose

When it comes to cloud data warehousing, the choice between Snowflake vs BigQuery is crucial for businesses that rely on big data analytics for decision-making. Snowflake, known for its flexibility and ease of use, contrasts with BigQuery, Google’s fully-managed, serverless data warehouse that excels in speed and scalability. Understanding the main differences between these two platforms is essential for selecting the right solution that aligns with your data strategy and operational needs.

Creating a Private API Gateway: Steps and Considerations

In this article, we’re diving deep into the nuts and bolts of creating a private API gateway. From the initial installation to securing your API with keys and roles, we’ll walk you through every step of the process. Whether you’re looking to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database or any other popular database, DreamFactory makes it a breeze, automating the tedious parts and letting you focus on what matters most: your data.

Automating ETL Tasks Effectively with Choreo

Connecting multiple systems and exchanging data among them is afrequent requirement in many business scenarios. This typically involves one or many source systems, an intermediary processor, and one or many destination systems. Some organizations invest in purpose-built solution suites such as Data Warehouse, Master Data Management (MDM), or Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) platforms, which, in-theory, cover a wider spectrum of requirements.

What is API Automation Testing | See if API Automation is For You

Application programming interface (API) automation testing is a type of automated testing that focuses on the performance and functionality of APIs. This process can test APIs for correctness, compatibility, and efficiency. API automation testing can ensure that APIs function properly and meet consumers’ expectations. Here’s the key things to know about API automation testing: Table of Contents.

Don't Forget to Regression Test Your APIs!

Here at SmartBear, our motto is that quality isn’t just the goal, it’s the whole point. The software development process is intricate and dynamic, with constant changes being made to meet evolving user requirements and address defects. However, with these changes come potential risks. One of the most significant challenges in software development is ensuring that making modifications to an application does not inadvertently break existing functionality.

Kong Konnect Data Plane Node Autoscaling with Karpenter on Amazon EKS 1.29

In this post, we're going to explore Karpenter, the ultimate solution for Node Autoscaling. Karpenter provides a cost-effective capability to implement your Kong Konnect Data Plane layer using the best EC2 Instances Types options available for your Kubernetes Nodes. See the previous posts in this series for more on Data Plane Elasticity and Pod Autoscaling with VPA, HPA, and Node Autoscaling with Cluster Autoscaler on Amazon EKS 1.29.

Transparency and Trust Through Kong Gateway Performance Benchmarks and Open Source Test Suites

In the rapidly evolving landscape of API management, understanding the raw performance and reliability of your API gateway is not just an expectation — it's a necessity. At Kong, we're dedicated to ensuring our users have access to concrete, actionable data to guide their operational and development strategies.

Simplify Application Login Flows with Asgardeo's New Visual Editor

App developers seeking simple login integration often find the IAM landscape daunting. Easier said than done when app developers don't live and breath the intricacies of identity standards. With Asgardeo, we have bridged this gap and offer a smooth experience for developers trying to ship their apps as soon as possible. In this post, let's dig into the newly delivered Login Flow Visual Editor and learn about the thinking behind this new capability and what it has to offer.

Kubernetes Native API Management: Create and Deploy APIs with WSO2 APK

Commence an exploration into Kubernetes Native API Management with WSO2 in this enlightening session. Guiding you through the details of creating and deploying APIs, we commence the exploration of the robust WSO2 API Platform for Kubernetes (APK). Discover an innovative AI-powered health and wellness coach application, unraveling the process of exposing microservices as managed APIs in a Kubernetes environment. The setup involves deploying WSO2 APK alongside microservices, providing a comprehensive view of API creation methodologies.

Mastering the API Lifecycle: Essential Stages & Proven Strategies for Success

What determines the success of an API? A significant part lies in mastering the API lifecycle—from planning to retiring, every step impacts your API’s performance and adoption. The API lifecycle involves several critical stages—planning, designing, developing, deploying, consuming, monitoring, and retiring. Each stage dictates the successful implementation of APIs, including governance models, transparency, and security being crucial throughout.

Navigating API Management's New Era: Kong's Incremental Buy-in Product Principle

In the rapidly evolving world of API management, the conversation around "the great unbundling of API management" has recently gained traction. This movement, highlighted by industry experts and analysts, including a recent Forbes article, reflects a shift towards a more componentized approach in API tooling offerings. Such an approach caters to the enterprise's specific needs, moving away from the traditional "does-it-all" solutions.

What is WebdriverIO? Unlock the Secrets of Automated Testing

Hey there! Ever wondered how the digital world consistently delivers sleek, bug-free websites and apps at the speed of light? Well, it’s not all caffeine-fueled coding marathons. A big hero behind the scenes is automated testing, and one of the champions in this arena is WebdriverIO. Let’s dive into this game-changer and see how it’s making the lives of developers, business owners, and pretty much everyone involved in web development a whole lot easier.

Mastering API Gatekeeping: A Guide to Efficiently Managing API Operations

Seeking to enhance your API operations? Delve into the world of API management, where securing, optimizing, and maximizing the potential of your API inventory becomes clear. Uncover the significance of API gateways, grasp the nuances of lifecycle management, and learn strategies to maintain uptime and performance. Ideal for those looking to tighten security, increase efficiency, or generate revenue through API management, these insights are designed to be practical and straightforward.

What is an API Gateway? A Complete Guide

An API’s main purpose is to allow multiple applications to communicate with one another. However, APIs can easily be made more secure and efficient through API gateways which provide a unified entry point across internal APIs. This unified entry point allows for greater control over user access and helps elevate API security measures like rate limiting while also applying security policies like OAuth or JWT. Plus, API gateways are extremely beneficial for securing microservices.

WSO2 API Manager: Leading the Way in API Management and Security

API management and API security are like two sides of a coin, intrinsically part of a greater whole. That is why the recent KuppingerCole report, “Leadership Compass: API Security and Management,” is particularly useful for organizations seeking to develop or update their API strategies. With the report’s comprehensive view of both API management and security, it offers an invaluable resource for understanding their interplay.

What's New in Kong Gateway 3.6

Kong Gateway 3.6 delivers a variety of new capabilities, enhanced UX and a brand new feature that we can't talk about yet. There are new Consumer Group capabilities, increased security when working with Hashicorp Vault or OpenID Connect, and there will even be a live demo of the brand new feature. Join Michael Heap (Sr Director of Developer Experience) and Veena Rajarathna (Staff Product Manager) as they walk you through what's new in the 3.6 release. You don’t want to miss this session!

Snowflake vs. Oracle: Which Data Warehouse is Better?

Snowflake and Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse are two cloud data warehouses that provide you with a Single Source Of Truth (SSOT) for all the data that exists in your organization. You can use either of these warehouses to run data through business intelligence (BI) tools and automate insights for decision-making. But which one should you add to your tech stack?

Creating a Microsoft SQL Server API in Less Than 5 minutes with DreamFactory

Do you have a ton of data sources and do not know how to expose them? Do you know you need a Microsoft SQL Server API but don’t know where to begin to build it? Look no further, DreamFactory can take any database and generate a fully documented and secure REST API faster than making a sandwich. All you need is your database credentials and DreamFactory will handle the rest, instantly generating Swagger API documentation and securing your API by way of API keys.

Adopt a Zero Trust Approach with OAuth 2.0 Mutual TLS Client Authentication

In the modern IT stack, API gateways act as the first line of defense against attacks on backend services by enforcing authentication/authorization policies and validating and transforming requests. When backend services are protected with a token-based approach, client applications must obtain an access token to access the protected resource.

Kong Konnect Data Plane Node Autoscaling with Cluster Autoscaler on Amazon EKS 1.29

After getting our Konnect Data Planes vertically and horizontally scaled, with VPA and HPA, it's time to explore the Kubernete Node Autoscaler options. In this post, we start with the Cluster Autoscaler mechanism. (Part 4 in this series is dedicated to Karpenter.)

What's new in Kong Gateway 3.6?

We're thrilled to announce the general availability of Kong Gateway 3.6. This version features a high-performance compression algorithm, efficient route matching, and improved observability. Plus, Kong AI Gateway, which you can learn more about here. Let’s dive into the enhancements and explore the tangible benefits these features bring your organization. Looking for more enterprise-grade features? Check out what's new in Kong Gateway Enterprise 3.6.

Announcing Kong's New Open Source AI Gateway with Multi-LLM Support, No-Code AI Plugins, Advanced Prompt Engineering, and More

Today I’m excited to announce that Kong has released six new open source AI plugins in Kong Gateway 3.6 that turn every Kong Gateway deployment into an AI Gateway. These new plugins are available today and are entirely free and open source for everyone. The six new plugins are AI Proxy, AI Request/Response Transformer, AI Prompt Guard, AI Prompt Template, and AI Prompt Decorator.

Leap Forward with Kong Gateway Enterprise 3.6

We're thrilled to announce the general availability of Kong Gateway Enterprise 3.6. This version brings security, efficiency, and standards conformance to enterprise applications. Plus, Kong AI Gateway, which you can learn more about here. Let’s dive into the enhancements and explore the tangible benefits these features bring your organization.

Build an Idempotent API in Node.js with Redis

In a world full of microservices and distributed systems, building robust and reliable APIs is of paramount concern. One key concept that plays a vital role in achieving reliability is idempotency. In this article, we'll delve into the world of idempotency, exploring what it is, why it's important, and how it can be implemented to solve the persistent problem of duplicate processing in APIs. Along the way, we'll see how to build an idempotent API in Node.js with Redis.

The Top 9 Apigee Alternatives

Apigee is a cloud-based API management tool. It integrates data from databases, warehouses, data lakes and SaaS services. It is a no-code tool making it a valuable asset for citizen integrators and developers alike. However, the platform was initially designed to build APIs for monoliths. It was not designed to handle microservices. Given we are in the age of digital transformation where microservices rule, Apigee may not be suitable for a lot of use cases.

What Is an API Integration?

Whether you’re working in the marketing department or the operations department, you’ve probably heard a lot about APIs and API integrations. API integration is the process of connecting different software systems or applications through their respective APIs to enable them to communicate and share data seamlessly. These have become the “buzz” terms of IT departments in recent years as more enterprises embrace the trend toward digital transformation.

The 2024 Guide to Testing APIs

API testing is a critical part of the software development lifecycle. If you’re not performance testing your APIs, you’re putting your entire system at risk. API testing is the process of verifying and validating the functionality, reliability, performance, and security of an API to ensure it meets its requirements and behaves as expected. This guide will discuss the importance of testing and how to test APIs.

Essential Strategies for Optimizing Your API Architecture

Why does API architecture matter, and how can you excel at it? It’s an important question to ask as you are trying to improve existing APIs or write new ones. In this article, we will create a high-level roadmap to understanding the foundations of API architecture, from API Gateways and data management to architectural styles like RESTful and GraphQL. We will look at best practices to enhance scalability and security and look closer at tools that support robust API development.

WSO2 APK's Distributed Tracing - Mastering API Efficiency

Uncover the power of WSO2 APK's Distributed Tracing capabilities in our latest screencast! Dive into the world of seamless API management with insights from popular tracing systems like Jaeger, Zipkin, Azure Application Insights, and OTLP gRPC. Learn the why and how of configuring distributed tracing in APK, enabling you to diagnose and resolve performance issues, errors, and exceptions efficiently.

Navigating Apple's Latest App Store Updates

Apple’s App Store has undergone significant changes recently, and savvy iOS developers are working hard to stay ahead of the curve. Together, the recent implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations in the EU and App Store Review Guidelines will reshape the iOS application landscape. While some of these changes pose exciting opportunities, others demand rapid and proactive adaptation.

Essential API Design Patterns: A Guide to Crafting Superior Web Services

When building APIs, developers face a crucial challenge: how to ensure they are structured for both ease of use and long-term scalability. API design patterns offer solutions to this challenge, serving as a roadmap for creating efficient, reliable, and adaptable web services. This guide unpacks these patterns, equipping you with the approaches needed to turn your API into an exemplary model of good design.

What's New in Kong Ingress Controller 3.1?

Kong Ingress Controller 3.1 provides brand-new capabilities for keeping your secrets secure. We’ve introduced new KongVault and KongLicense CRDs, and added a way to keep sensitive information in your cluster when using KIC in Konnect. Finally, there’s a quality-of-life improvement that allows you to use a Kubernetes secret to populate a single field in a KongPlugin configuration.

The Power of Reusability: Scale Your Test Management in Jira

In today's dynamic software development landscape, efficient and scalable test management is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of software products. Jira, a popular project management tool, offers a robust solution for test management through its integration with Zephyr Scale. In this blog post, we’ll explore the high-level importance of reusability features in test management and how they contribute to scaling your testing efforts.

REST APIs for Government

REST APIs are emerging as a simple and secure way to access sensitive government data, serving as conduits that enable seamless access and manipulation of data across various government systems. Government agencies face the pressing need to modernize their IT infrastructure to improve service delivery, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure the security of data exchanges.

Virtual Private Cloud vs On Premises | Key Differences & How to Choose

Wondering which is the best way to host your business applications and IT infrastructure? Many enterprises are transitioning from on-premises software to cloud computing. On the other hand, several established companies are investing their capital in on-premises software. Both of these deployment models have advantages and drawbacks, and you can zero in on the right option by considering your specific requirements.

Streamlining Cloud Native App Development in Kubernetes with Prioritized API Management

For years, we've witnessed how applications have shifted to the cloud, driven by cost savings, flexibility, on-demand access, scalability, and faster deployment times. During that time, new architectural best practices for building cloud native applications have emerged. (For more insights, refer to this whitepaper.) Yet despite these advances, it remains difficult to build cloud native applications that fully take advantage of Kubernetes, the platform of choice for most cloud deployments.

Avoid These Common Mocking Mistakes in API Testing

API testing is a bit like putting together a puzzle. You need all the pieces to fit perfectly to see the big picture, and sometimes, you have to simulate a piece or two with mocking. Mocking in API testing lets you imitate a component or system’s behavior to test your application more efficiently. It’s like having a stunt double for your API when the real actor is unavailable. This approach can save time, reduce costs, and increase the reliability of your testing process.

What is Snowflake | A Comprehensive Overview with Pros and Cons

Snowflake is a technology company offering a cloud-based data warehouse for data storage and analytics. Snowflake has been making headlines lately, having reported $1.1 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2022—that’s 106% growth year-on-year.

A Complete Guide to API Generation

Application programming interfaces (APIs) have become necessities in business operations, driving innovation and allowing for business agility. Embarking on digital transformation is no longer just a choice for businesses, it is a must for any company that wants to compete in the digital economy. Don’t just take our word for it, though. A recent study shows that 97% of enterprise leaders agree with the statement that APIs are essential for business survival.

API Security Risks and How to Mitigate Them

Today, more organizations than ever before rely on web and mobile applications and partner integrations to help them automate and scale, making APIs essential to today’s software ecosystem. But because APIs are gateways to sensitive data, this also makes them an attractive target for hackers who are constantly evolving their strategies to access private information.

Guide to API Security in the IoT Age

From smart homes to wearable devices to connected cars, the Internet of Things (IoT) is bringing about a new era of hyper-connectivity. Experts expect investments in the IoT ecosystem to rise above $1 trillion in 2026 — with no signs of slowing down. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the backbone of IoT, ensuring scalability and security across billions of connected devices.

What Role Does Microsegmentation Play in Zero Trust Security?

With digital transformation shifting networks into the cloud — from remote workforces to online banking — cyberattacks are growing more prevalent and sophisticated. Legacy security models like VPNs and perimeter-based firewalls are proving inadequate in addressing modern threats because perimeters are becoming harder to define.

The 5 Key Areas to Optimize Your API Lifecycle

Ever faced frustrating API documentation? Or wrestled with versioning headaches? Or battled integration nightmares? These are just some of the common challenges that plague the API development world. The good news is that there's a better way. By prioritizing five key areas – design clarity, comprehensive documentation, developer empathy, robust security, and automated workflows – you can overcome these hurdles and craft APIs that are a joy to use, maintain, and integrate with.

Kong Konnect Data Plane Elasticity on Amazon EKS 1.29: Pod Autoscaling with VPA

In this series of posts, we will look closely at how Kong Konnect Data Planes can take advantage of Autoscalers running on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Services (EKS) 1.29 to support the throughput the demands API consumers impose on it at the lowest cost. The series comprises four parts.

Owning Infrastructure vs Owning Policies: Balancing Engineering Autonomy and Platform Control of APIs

We want our engineering teams to move fast and be agile, yet many organizations confuse ownership of the infrastructure with ownership of the policies. The latter is what engineering teams want to rapidly iterate and develop their APIs. The former is the responsibility of the platform team. In this post, we'll talk about how to empower engineers with a secure API infrastructure strategy. This is part of a series on becoming a secure API-first company.

#API Testing with Postman: Setup, Assertions, and Reporting | Ganesh Manoharan | #apitesting

In this insightful video, Ganesh Manoharan demonstrates the ins and outs of using Postman. He covers the essential aspects of API testing, including setup, assertions, and reporting. Whether you're a seasoned tester or a developer venturing into API testing, Ganesh's practical guidance and hands-on demonstration will equip you with the skills needed to streamline your testing process. Learn how to leverage Postman for effective API testing, ensure robust assertions, and generate comprehensive reports. Elevate your testing game with this comprehensive tutorial on API testing using Postman.

How to Use an API: A Step-by-Step Tutorial for Beginners

Understanding how to use an API is essential for modern software development, from simple data retrieval to complex integrations. This guide demystifies the process, providing you with the insights you need to make API requests, decode responses, and securely implement these powerful connectors in your code. Step by step, you’ll learn the key concepts that will empower you to leverage APIs effectively in your own projects.

Essential Strategies for #APITesting Success | Kunal Ashar | #api #softwaretesting #shorts

In this video, understand the secrets of ensuring robust performance in all possible scenarios. Discover the art of breaking down APIs to test their resilience and functionality across diverse paths. Learn how to strike the right balance between comprehensive testing and practical prioritization, ensuring optimal coverage for various API scenarios. 🎯 Key Highlights.

Top Application Insights Alternatives for Enhanced App Monitoring

If you feel constrained by Azure Application Insights’ limitations or seek functionalities it doesn’t offer, you’ve likely begun exploring Application Insights alternatives that can better align with your application performance monitoring needs. In other cases, you may have read about the retirement of Classic Application Insights and are looking for a new platform to leverage in the same way.

Build Great APIs with These Essential REST API Best Practices

When it comes to REST API best practices, it can be hard to understand whats important and what is not. This means that developers need immediate, applicable guidance when it comes to applying best practices for building great APIs. This article will dive into techniques that optimize REST API design for clarity, stability, and speed. Discover how strategic endpoint crafting, judicious HTTP method usage, and meticulous attention to security can revolutionize your API.

Kong Mesh 2.6: More Flexibility, Usability, and Security

The first release of Kong Mesh for 2024 (version 2.6) brings many new features that ease day 0 for new starters of service mesh reinforcing our goal of making a simple yet powerful product! In this blog, we'll break down these new features and provide tailored use cases to illustrate how Kong Mesh 2.6 can elevate your service mesh experience. We'll focus on three main categories: flexibility, usability, and security.

9 Best Email API Services for Developers

Using email to communicate with consumers, sell new items, connect with future customers, and much more is crucial for running a successful business. Despite the numerous communication options available today, such as social media platforms, chatbots, and collaboration tools like Slack, email remains a viable and effective option. In fact, Internet Live Stats reports that 2,641,007 emails are received per second.

Accelerate Your Time to Market with Sharing Spaces

The concept of time-to-market has emerged as a pivotal factor in determining success. Bringing new products, services, or features to market can make the crucial difference between seizing opportunities and falling behind. But faster tech advancements, changing consumer preferences, and global market dynamics meant that businesses need a paradigm shift in their approach to strategy. The adoption of APIs has surged, fundamental to rapid development and innovation.