Exploring a Process for Developing Usable Web APIs: A Case Study

Date
2015-12-04
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Abstract
Developing a usable Application Programming Interface (API) is a complex and expensive task. Two major factors play important roles on the usability of an API: its design and the resources made available by designer (e.g. documentation, tutorials). Typically, developers evaluate the usability of an API after implementation, resulting in refactoring tasks that could be avoided if this evaluation were continuously conducted. This thesis explores a process for building usable APIs that combines concepts from an API usability evaluation method (Cognitive Dimensions) and an Agile development methodology (eXtreme Programming). Explored effectiveness of this process and the impact of different resources on usability, I implemented a web-based API and conducted a user study. Results from these two evaluations indicated that: the process was effective to design the API, but ignored some concerns around the resources; and usability was improved when functional examples with source code are provided.
Description
Keywords
Computer Science
Citation
Bhaskar, R. K. (2015). Exploring a Process for Developing Usable Web APIs: A Case Study (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26078