API | Read the latest blogs, news and views from Infomentum. (3)

The highlight of my week? My first MuleSoft Connect 2022! It was the first in-person event in almost 3(!)years. So, in case you missed it, I would like to share what I learned and enjoyed the most during that eventful day.

'We are planning to upgrade to Mule 4 in a few months. Meanwhile, the development is on hold because it is impossible to find any Mule 3 certified resources. Can you help us?' The head of the integration programme was crying for help. Looks like it is a common problem as many organisations still rely heavily on the old Mule 3 version. 

When the connected digital experience has become "a must" rather than "a nice to be", integration solutions are in high demand. APIs are now almost the de factor way for various platforms and systems to communicate and exchange information. So, what happens when a public API fails? In 2014 Gartner estimated it to be about $300,000 per hour!

Here is a challenge for you - how to create an API that retrieves data from a cloud-based system with no external APIs? In the situations like this, it would make a perfect sense to access the data via the system's UI using robotic automation bots. Your API can invoke a bot to read the required information. To implement this solution and enable APIs to Bots requests, we need an API-RPA connector.

Are you in the middle of working out your integration strategy and selecting a suitable platform? It's a serious and long-term commitment, so wouldn't it be great to test a chosen platform first? Validate it by building fully-functioning API integrations for your specific use case?

Testing is a critical part of software development, ensuring early detection of bugs or any other problems within your code. However, for most of us it's the less favorite activity; it feels tedious and often repetitive. Furthermore, creating test for a large block of code can be troublesome, especially for beginners.

API-led integration can propel your organisation to new heights; better customer service, increased efficiency and innovation are only a few of the benefits of a successful initiative.

Unit testing has always been an integral part of software engineering because it ensures that problems in the code are isolated and fixed long before they become an issue in production. With the introduction and adoption of Agile framework, unit testing has changed dramatically because of the test-driven development (TDD) methodology. TDD is a software development strategy in which unit tests are used to drive the development process. In this blog, I explain how to practice TDD and share some tips on how to write great unit tests using MUnit.

If you read my previous blog post on competing in the API economy, you probably have a feel for just how important APIs are for modern organisations. Implementing an API strategy unlocks internal assets and makes you a competitive and relevant force in our diverse and fast-changing tech landscape.

There is still much confusion about the differences and commonalities between SOA (service-oriented architecture), microservices, APIs and, even, point-to-point integration.