API Learning Roadmap
API learning roadmap covering protocols, design, auth, observability, and change.
API and Web Development
APIs, HTTP, browser constraints, and backend interface patterns that shape how web systems exchange data, handle change, and fail in production.
REST API Cheat Sheet
REST API concepts, constraints, and HTTP patterns in one reference sheet.
GraphQL
GraphQL lets clients request exact API fields through a typed schema.
REST vs. GraphQL
REST and GraphQL compared through interface shape, flexibility, and tradeoffs.
Nine Types of API Testing
Nine API test types and the failure modes each one is meant to catch.
gRPC
gRPC uses Protobuf contracts and HTTP/2 for efficient service calls.
API Gateway Responsibilities
API gateway responsibilities for request admission, routing, and cross-cutting policy.
Secure Web API Access Design
Secure web API access through authentication, authorisation, and abuse controls.
Pagination in API Design
API pagination through stable ordering, offsets, cursors, and page tokens.
Polling vs. Webhooks
Polling and webhooks compared by freshness, infrastructure needs, and failure handling.
HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3
HTTP transport evolution through multiplexing, QUIC, and reduced blocking.
Proxy vs. Reverse Proxy
Forward and reverse proxies compared by traffic direction, control, and purpose.
Load Balancers
Load balancers route requests across healthy servers and absorb backend failure.
9 HTTP Request Methods
HTTP methods and their safety, idempotency, and resource update semantics.
Secure API Design Cheat Sheet
Secure API design through authentication, authorisation, validation, and rate limits.
API vs. SDK
API boundaries versus SDK tooling for integration contracts and developer ergonomics.
URL, URI, and URN Differences
URL, URI, and URN differences through naming, location, and identifier scope.
10 Production Web Application Components
Core production web application components from clients and APIs to data stores.
Unicast vs. Broadcast vs. Multicast vs. Anycast
Traffic delivery models for unicast, broadcast, multicast, and anycast.
URL Components
URL components for resource addressing, routing, caching, and security rules.
Version Numbers and Compatibility
Version numbers signal compatibility, release scope, and upgrade risk.
3 API Gateway Use Cases
API gateway roles in edge routing, cross-cutting policy, and protocol mediation.
API Gateway Fundamentals
API gateways for routing, authentication, rate limiting, and edge policy enforcement.
API Design Cheat Sheet
API design patterns for resources, errors, versioning, and operational guarantees.
GraphQL Adoption Patterns
Four GraphQL adoption patterns, from API wrappers to federated ownership.
GraphQL at LinkedIn
GraphQL query execution, resolver fan-out, and schema control at LinkedIn.
Load Balancer vs. API Gateway
Load balancers and API gateways compared by routing, policy, and edge control.
Reverse Proxy vs. API Gateway vs. Load Balancer
Reverse proxies, API gateways, and load balancers compared by responsibility.
8 API Design Principles
Eight API design tips covering resources, versioning, errors, and request efficiency.
JavaScript Runtime Model
JavaScript execution with the call stack, heap, event loop, and async tasks.
WAN, LAN, PAN, and MAN
Network types compared by scope, ownership, and transport distance.
18 Common Network Ports
Eighteen common network ports and the protocols and services they expose.
Load Balancer Use Cases
Load balancer use cases through traffic distribution, failover, and rollouts.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
CSS applies layout and visual rules to structured HTML content in the browser.
HTTP/2 vs HTTP/1.1 Performance
HTTP/2 speeds up web traffic with multiplexing, header compression, and reuse.
Browser Rendering Pipeline
Browser rendering through parsing, style calculation, layout, paint, and compositing.
Internet Routing Policies
Internet routing policies through BGP attributes, peering, and transit.
HTTP Headers
HTTP headers that control caching, content handling, and proxy behaviour.
NAT and IPv4 Address Sharing
NAT address translation through private networks, port mapping, and shared public IPv4.
gRPC Request Flow
gRPC calls over HTTP/2 with Protocol Buffers, streams, and generated stubs.
5 Unusual HTTP Status Codes
Five unusual HTTP status codes and the protocol edge cases behind them.
Load Balancer Use Cases
Load balancer roles in health checks, routing, traffic control, and safe rollouts.
Short Polling, Long Polling, SSE, and WebSockets
Short polling, long polling, SSE, and WebSockets for browser update delivery.