API Best Practices 🛠️

Design Principles

• Consistency 🔄: Use uniform request formats (e.g., JSON) and predictable endpoints.
• RESTful Design 🌐: Follow REST API design guidelines for stateless interactions.
• Scalability 📈: Design with future growth in mind, avoiding over-fetching or under-fetching data.

Security Best Practices

• Authentication 🔒: Implement OAuth 2.0 or API keys for secure access.
• Data Validation 🛡️: Sanitize inputs to prevent injection attacks.
• Rate Limiting ⚡: Protect against abuse with IP-based or token-based limits.

Performance Optimization

• Caching 🧠: Use HTTP caching headers (e.g., Cache-Control) to reduce load.
• Compression 📦: Enable GZIP or Brotli for faster data transfer.
• Asynchronous Processing 🚀: Offload heavy tasks to background workers.

Versioning & Documentation

• Versioning 📚: Use URL paths (e.g., /v2/users) or headers for API versioning.
• Self-Descriptive Responses 📄: Include clear status codes and error messages.
• Documentation 📖: Refer to API documentation guidelines for consistency.

Error Handling

• Status Codes ⚠️: Use 4xx for client errors, 5xx for server issues.
• Error Details 📌: Provide actionable error messages via error or message fields.
• Retry Logic 🔁: Implement idempotent operations for failed requests.

For deeper insights into API security, visit API Security Guidelines.