API Security in Action with Neil Madden

Our guest for today is a consultant, author, and instructor. He's the founder of microapis.io and the author of "Microservice APIs". Recognised as a thought leader in the fields of cloud computing, DevOps, and automation, he speaks regularly at international conferences and frequently organizes public workshops and seminars.

With APIs designed to be automated and used by machines, they become easy targets for automated attacks and vulnerabilities as well. This episode, we find out what it takes for web APIs to be secure as they are rolled out. Joining us is active IETF member and author of "API Security in Action" Neil Madden, who discusses the dangers that an API is exposed to, its security mechanisms, and secure coding practices to keep your API safe from attacks.

In this episode, we talk about the “smells” in API design that one should look out for. Keith Casey from ngrok’s Product and GTM Team tells us how to evaluate your API design, what a great (and terrible) API design looks like and how API design smells can be dealt with. He also talks to us about his time trying to figure out how much data is in the Library of Congress and his underlying goal of bringing good technology to the hands of good people.

One of the ways organisations are looking to unlock more avenues for business and operational growth is through data. Couple it with AI, the possibilities are almost endless. In this round of cocktails, ThoughtWorks Australia’s Director of Data and AI Practice David Colls talks to us about data and AI capabilities and how they can be tapped for product development and business strategies. He also shares the ethical and societal implications of the growth of big data and AI and what our responsibilities are in the process.

Getting started on DynamoDB? Join us for a round. This episode, we take a deep dive into DynamoDB with consultant and author of The DynamoDB Book Alex DeBrie, who talks to us about the database's key offerings, the problems it solves, use-cases and how to work around its consistency models.

How does one go about managing API products in an organisation? Why is it important that we view APIs as products and practice product thinking? Postman’s Product Strategy Leader Deep Goyal answers as she joins us in this round of cocktails. She also shares with us her experience and expertise during the course of her career as a former API Product Manager for Twilio and Paypal and tells us how evolving one important API metric can generate better revenues for an organisation.

What does it take for one to become a Product Manager? We find out in this episode. In this edition of Coding Over Cocktails, we are joined by Matt LeMay, author of Agile For Everybody and Product Management in Practice and co-founder of Sudden Compass, and talks to us about the responsibilities and qualities that entail being a product manager and how much technical knowledge is needed for the role. He also tells us why he is tired of Agile and how the power we delegate to made-up concepts is “weird.”

What exactly does it mean to be a Developer Advocate and what roles do they play in the development community? In this episode, we talk to Geertjan Wielenga, author of “Developer, Advocate!,” who answers what a Developer Advocate actually does and who qualifies as one. He also discusses the ethics of Developer Advocacy, the challenges in connecting and interacting with the developer community, and how he was able to gather information and learning experiences from 32 fellow developer advocates.

The API industry is rapidly evolving, and so are the trends that impact its landscape as well. In this episode, ALIAS co-founder and APIDays founder Mehdi Medjaoui returns and talks to us about the “API Industry Landscape 2022” report. He shares his findings on the trends that drive the growth of APIs and API tool providers and companies, the impacts of regulation, and what the future holds for the industry.

Over the last two decades, REST has become the de facto standard when it comes to designing Web APIs, as it doesn't require any special initialisation or libraries when working with APIs and offered structured access to resources. But as the need for more efficiency and flexibility for requirements arose, GraphQL started to become a favored alternative. While both offer their own advantages, which one should you be using? Two key folks from Postman answer this on our third Technology Smackdown, with OpenAPI Lead Arnaud Lauret returning to represent REST and Open Technologies Technical Lead Doc Jones for the GraphQL side.