Liberating the API Economy with Scale-Free Networks

Liberating the API Economy with Scale-Free Networks

The Web exhibits a feature found in many complex systems known as "Scale-Free" or "Power-Law" networks, sometimes called the "long tail" Most people think of the "long tail" as an economic and/or social property. However, it also represents physical and informational properties fundamental to the way the Web works. But the steady increase in major service outages indicate that many current Web APIs, services, and even client applications ignore this basic "law of the Web."

This talk explores the "Scale-Free" rule of complex systems and offers clear and simple advice to those planning to build and/or consume APIs for the Web. Such as what to avoid, what to plan for, what to build, and how to identify & steer clear of clients and services that fail to abide by the rules and, in the process, are making it harder for all of us to liberate the API Economy.

Director of API Architecture, API Academy, CA Technologies

An internationally known author and lecturer, Mike Amundsen travels throughout the world consulting and speaking on a wide range of topics including distributed network architecture, Web application development, and other subjects.

In his role of Director of Architecture for the API Academy, Amundsen heads up the API Architecture and Design Practice in North America. He is responsible for working with companies to provide insight on how best to capitalize on the myriad opportunities APIs present to both consumers and the enterprise.

Amundsen has authored numerous books and papers on programming over the last 15 years. His most recent book is a collaboration with Leonard Richardson titled "RESTful Web APIs" published in 2013. His 2011 book, “Building Hypermedia APIs with HTML5 and Node”, is an oft-cited reference on building adaptable Web applications.

The credits below include not just the images, but also additional articles, papers, wiki references, etc. that were mentioned in the talk.