While APIs are not new technology trends by any means, they have become vital to the digital transformation process over the last decade. APIs are increasingly becoming a necessity for business operations, as is overall API management. Business leaders overwhelmingly agree that APIs are the future of business. A recent study shows that 97% of enterprise leaders agree that APIs are essential for business survival because they enhance security and streamline business operations. But building APIs is just as important as using them when it comes to business profitability. API generation is one of the most efficient and economical ways to build APIs.
API generation refers to the ability to instantly create APIs through low-code or no-code solutions. It allows both developers and non-developers to create, secure, and deploy APIs in just minutes using a pre-built framework with drag-and-drop features. APIs built with API generation offer excellent security enhancements as they are created through proven frameworks with API security optimization in mind.
In addition, API generation serves as an excellent alternative to manual API development. Manual API development is a lengthy process that doesn't offer the same scalability or speed as API generation. It also offers a wide variety of benefits and use cases for business operations.
So, how can leveraging API generation benefit your business operations?
Here are the top five reasons why your business should begin utilizing API generation to create your business's APIs:
One reason API generation is so valuable for businesses is that it allows non-developers (or citizen integrators with little to no technical or coding skills) to build custom APIs. This is a huge advancement for non-technical workers and benefit for business operations, as both developers and non-developers can build multiple APIs from low-code and no-code frameworks without having to work with or consult highly skilled software developers or programmers.
Compared to manually building APIs from scratch, API generation greatly increases the speed of development. While building an API from scratch is a relatively straightforward process for a skilled programmer — it's still a lengthy process. Building an API from scratch requires a developer to take the following steps into consideration:
...and more during the manual development process.
In contrast, API generation allows the building of multiple APIs within minutes by using the framework that low-code or no-code solutions provide. It allows an extended API lifecycle that cannot be matched by manual programming methodology.
Creating APIs through low-code or no-code solutions accelerates the API creation process. In addition, low-code development software work to enhance business agility by enabling business operations to respond to changing market conditions and expectations.
Low-code and no-code development software also help enhance workflow automation by increasing efficiency, speeding up business processes, and reducing errors. Enhancing business agility fosters an improved and more interactive user experience. In addition, overall customer experience is also enhanced when business operations can respond to market conditions faster.
Through API generation, you can create an API ecosystem that includes all relevant stakeholders, such as your customers, partnerships, software vendors, and developers. To take advantage of the API ecosystem, you must include accessible APIs and API providers in your business model.
Generating APIs allows you to allocate your energy to other vital aspects of your business. Even if you have the front- and back-end development experience necessary to manually code an API from scratch, it's a lengthy process that undoubtedly consumes a great deal of time.
Investing in low-code or no-code tools saves everyone within your business operation, from non-technical to skilled developers, a great deal of valuable time. You'll create APIs in minutes instead of months. This allows everyone in the organization, from top to bottom, to allocate more of their time to other important areas of the business.
Compared to traditional software development methods, low code platforms for API generation are typically more affordable than hiring a software developer to build an API from scratch — that can set you back thousands of dollars for just one API. You can use the same framework to build multiple custom APIs through easy-to-use drag and drop interfaces.
Overall, low-code or no-code tools are a worthwhile investment.
If API generation seems like an ideal solution for your business, consider getting started with DreamFactory. Through the DreamFactory platform, you can integrate any SQL or NoSQL file storage system or external HTTP or SOAP service and instantly generate a fully documented REST API that's comprehensive, flexible, and ready to use in near real-time.
DreamFactory can add business logic to your automatically generated APIs through server-side scripting. The platform supports the scripting engines of NodeJS, PHP, Python, and V8JS. The benefit of custom logic is that it can be used to validate input parameters, transform responses to suit client requirements, and call other APIs.
If you're ready to discover how APIs can enhance your business, contact our team today to start your free 14-day trial.
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