What is Swagger? Get the Complete Guide Here:
APIs integration is a common trend in today’s time among software developers. The software development lifecycle depends upon the APIs.
API stands for Application Programming Interface that connects developers to share valuable data. They also allow the data and functionality exposed to the public for use.
Swagger is mainly useful when there is a need for clear protocol or the documentations. It is a popular tool to document REST APIs.
Netflix, Google and Microsoft are some of the popular companies which use the Swagger framework.
What are the Benefits of Swagger?
- Specifications are machine-readable and human-readable.
- Generating easy testable documentation.
- The format is acceptable in YAML and JSON.
- Helping automate API-related processes.
- Documentation is comprehensible for both non-developers and developers like project managers and clients.
- Supporting the API creation libraries in over 40 languages.
Swagger Working:
API Documentation Overview:
API is like a middleman between the web server and application to share the information. There is extensive communication involved. This is the reason, a well documenting APIs is essential to give a positive developer experience.
The API documentation is like a reference manual that consists of instructions. It tells about how effectively it is handy and integrates with an API.
The API documentation should cover the following:
- API overview and the problem it is solving
- Step-by-step guidance with examples
- Explanation of various terms
- Endpoint supporting operations
OpenAPI Specification Overview:
An OpenAPI specification describes the standard format for REST APIs. This standard is crucial which enables everyone to write REST APIs that are compliant with its best practices like safety, versioning and error handling. OpenAPI is just like a template with a set of rules and constraints. It is usually written in the JSON file format or YAML that makes it readable for the machine and humans as well.
What is Swagger?
Swagger API is defined as a set of open-source tools to help developers to design and document. The tool is always built around the OpenAPI specification. It contains three components like Swagger UI, Swagger Editor and Swagger Codegen.
Previously, Swagger Specification was known as the OpenAPI specification. The major difference is that Swagger is the implementation for instructions, and OpenAPI is the instruction or the blueprint.
The major thanks for this is the automation concept made by OpenAPI and Swagger. It is easy to generate and maintain API documentation processes for the developers.
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Swagger API examples:
SwaggerHub is known as an online API documentation tool. It is designed to accelerate API documentation with simplification. Here we are explaining each component of it.
Swagger Editor:
It is a browser-based editor in which you can write and edit the API documentation. It enables you to use the Swagger Editor through the browser and use the host version like SwaggerHub.
Convenient side-by-side view:
Swagger Editor contains one editor where you can plug in all the request and response data. This editor supports JSON format and YAML. You can view the documentation as the end-user on the right panel.
Live Error Report:
The main purpose of Live Error Report is the sharing of rows that you need to adjust. This is done to comply with the specifications.
Autocomplete option:
In case you prefer not to rewrite each time you get the new GET method. You can also use the autocomplete option for documentation building.
Ease of use:
Swagger Editor allows users to fully customize the documentation to meet their own needs. Below is the main example view of Swagger Editor.
What things do we like?
It is quite convenient for us to design our specifications using Swagger Editor. The editor will tell us exactly what the API is asking for. Here we already have the template that helps in reducing the errors.
Easily Integrated:
Swagger UI is easy to integrate with the current and other new apps.
Flexible Setup:
Cloud, node package and locally are some of the ways in which Swagger UI can run.
Interactive:
There is a “try it out” button in the Swagger UI. It turns the query parameters into the fields. It enables you to make a call against an actual API.
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What things do we like?
We can save a significant amount of time by using Swagger UI to expose the APIs documentation. It also enables the users to try out every single operation.
Swagger Codegen:
We have created interactive API documentation with Swagger UI and Swagger Editor. Now we have to make our API Live by implementing the server logic. The Swagger Codegen will have the following features:
Generate server Stubs:
You will get many choices of framework/servers in the Swagger Codegen. The best examples of such concepts are Java server, Go server and Node server. You can also choose the server which is backend implementation supportable.
Client-side SDKs:
It is easy to build the client SDKs for APIs in Java, JavaScript, C# and Swift-like languages. There are wrapper classes in the Client SDK. You can use this to call the API from the app without dealing with HTTP requests and responses.
Conclusion:
Swagger makes it easy to create and design REST APIs. There are many ways to write API documentation. Have you considered swagger for the API documentation? As a professional developer, you must incorporate it.
