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Which API Lifecycle Model is the Best for API Removal Management?

Authors:
Dung-Feng Yu
Cheng-Ying Chang
Hewijin Christine Jiau
Kuo-Feng Ssu

Keywords: API lifecycle; API lifecycle model; API change; API removal management; software migration.

Abstract:
Frameworks and libraries are reused through application programming interfaces (APIs). Normally, APIs are assumed to be stable and serve as contracts between frameworks/libraries and client applications. However, in reality, APIs change over time. When these changes happen, API users must spend additional effort in migrating client applications. If the effort is too much to afford, the frameworks/libraries that API developers have built will lose market share. In order to reduce migration effort, API developers should manage API changes through API lifecycle. Before construction of API lifecycle, investigation of the following question is required: Which API lifecycle model is the best for API removal management? To answer this question, we first construct three API lifecycle models based on the observation of current practices, and then devise a set of metrics to assess those models using case studies. Assessment results conclude the best model is deprecation involved model which benefits API developers and users most with the least costs. Such model becomes the base for API developers to build API lifecycle which enables API developers to manage API changes, and reduces migration effort.

Pages: 219 to 224

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2017

Publication date: October 8, 2017

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4235

ISBN: 978-1-61208-590-6

Location: Athens, Greece

Dates: from October 8, 2017 to October 12, 2017