Understanding Google's API Improvement Proposals System

When an organization uses more than one Application Programming Interface (API), API governance and management becomes far more important. After all, it is critical to operational efficiency if the interactions between these APIs are as seamless as possible. It is incumbent on your leadership as an enterprise to ensure that every involved team member understands how to perform their role vis-a-vis your APIs.

Many companies opt for an API style guide, which talks about the system that has been created to manage operations. One recent development in this field is Google’s latest innovation API Improvement Proposals or APIs.

What Are They?

AIPs are documents that detail the guidelines for API design. They tend to focus on resource naming, pagination, error handling, and other factors in the organization’s universal design standards. They were said to have been inspired by Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs).

Google organizes its AIPs using numerical values, which are as follows:

• 1–99 for Meta-AIPs or AIPs designated for certain product lines
• 100–999 for General API Design
• 2700–2599 for G-Suite
• 2500–2599 for Cloud
• 3000–3099 for Actions on Google
• 3200–3299 for Firebase
• 4100–4199 for Auth Libraries
• 4200–4299 for Client libraries
• 4600–4699 for Geo

Google has also reserved 9000–9999 for private design documents, but all other AIPs are publicly available at https://google.aip.dev/

How Are They Made?

AIPs are Markdown-formatted text documents. This means a few subheadings and a change log at the end. You may also see the following words frequently used:

• MUST
• MUST NOT
• SHOULD
• SHOULD NOT
• MAY

The Elements of APIs

AIPs cater to three basic elements: Stakeholders, Lifecycle, and Management.

The Stakeholders are anyone involved in the creation of the API. These include the proposal authors, producers, and editors Everyone works together to refine the guide to list the best practices.

The Lifecycle notes the state of the current API. It may be under one of the seven following states:

• Draft: This is when the authors determine the content and scope of an AIP.
• Review: This is when editors review the API and provide feedback.
• Approval: This is when the editors have accepted the API. From here, the engineers will enact the guidelines.
• Withdrawn: This is when authors withdraw from an API, possibly leaving it in someone else’s hands.
• Rejected: This is when editors reject an API.
• Deferred: This is granted to an API that has not been updated in a while.
• Replaced: This is when an API is replaced entirely.

The Management of APIs refers to a number of endeavors related to their implementation, such as storage, access, modification, updating, and so on. Google’s AIPs, for example, are managed on a GitHub repository.

What are the benefits of APIs?

Since Google’s creation and adoption of this new system, they have reported more seamless collaboration between their employees. It also was a welcome upgrade over past structures. Overall, companies who adopt AIPs may find that their operations are running more smoothly and efficiently.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the management of any business, it is important to adopt the best practices in the industry for greater efficiency. The more efficient your operations are, the more likely you are to run a viable business turn a profit. After all, if you can get the job done better and faster, you would be able to feasibly scale your business and its revenues.

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