3 good ways to validate APIs

IFTTT platforms, TDD methodologies, and integration platforms make life easier for developers seeking to prototype and test their own APIs or understand the APIs of third parties.

This is a scenario that I'm sure many software developers have encountered while developing or enhancing a new application.

The product owner specifies an epic and a number of features that require integration with a new SaaS application. She has made several assumptions about the capabilities exposed by the SaaS platform's APIs and incorporated them into the workflow and front-end application requirements. She anticipates that the agile development team will complete a spike, ideally within a single sprint, to verify these assumptions.

The question is how straightforward it will be for the development team to conduct this investigation and, ideally, to implement proofs of concept that validate assumptions.

Bear in mind that these validations must extend beyond simply examining the endpoints' transactions and views. Additionally, they should verify data quality, take performance into account, and ultimately determine the amount of development work required to fulfil requirements using available APIs. Additionally, developers should consider the authorizations required and other security concerns during this evaluation.

Is it possible to complete this challenge in a sprint, ideally without writing a lot of code?

Given the prevalence of API integration in application and data integration, development teams should consider utilising tools to assist in reviewing capabilities and validating assumptions. Organizations that integrate with a variety of SaaS, enterprise, and third-party tools should also consider integration platforms that can accelerate development, provide robust integration capabilities, and also manage integrations.