Gemini for API Development

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In today's world of bly growing IT industries, API development has its own contribution in bringing together multiple technologies. With the help of APIs, you can build different development-based applications, software, web services, mobile apps, or any IoT system, establishing a bridge between systems for data exchange.

In this article, you will learn about different methods to develop APIs using Gemini Code Assist along with some examples. You will see different pros & limitations, along with the best practices for API management.

What is an API? How Does It Work with Gemini?

APIs or Application Programming Interfaces act like an intermediate that will allow you to establish a connection between two different systems. For example, we can use a weather forecast system or application to show accurate weather. Here, the API will provide all the necessary data regarding the weather system, which was extracted using weather sensors at scratch and then this API can be directly used in our application.

With proper prompts, you can kickstart with Gemini to get the perfect suggestions for any kind of API development in our environment.

For example, in Apigee, you can connect Gemini and create API specs by just writing the below prompt: "I want to design a Menu API for customers".

Additionally, you can get more features by mentioning specific things like menu options, types, what a menu contains, etc. and get the desired result.

What Are Different Types of APIs?

Normally, APIs are categorised on several criteria, like APIs based on their usage, protocols, architecture or their access levels. Here are some of the APIs mentioned below with their examples, categorised in different factors.

APIs Based On Its Usage or Application

Following are some API categorized based on its usage and applications −;

• REST API − Twitter API, OpenWeather API.
• GraphQL API − GitHub GraphQL API.
• SOAP API − Payment gateways like PayPal.
• Library APIs − For example, NumPy API in Python provides mathematical tools.
• Operating System APIs − For example, Win32 API for Windows.
• Hardware APIs − APIs like DirectX API help games communicate with GPU hardware.

Based on Protocols

Following are some API categorized based on Protocols −

• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) APIs − PayPal SOAP API for financial transactions.
• gRPC (Google Remote Procedure Call) − The examples are: Netflix uses gRPC for internal microservices communication.

Based on Access Levels or Availability

• Open APIs (Public APIs) − OpenWeather API for weather data.
• Partner APIs − Like Amazon MWS API.
• Internal APIs (Private APIs) − Restricted to use within an organisation.

Based on Purpose or Functionality

• Data APIs − Spotify API allows fetching song metadata.
• Functional APIs − Stripe API for online payments.

Based On the Communication Style

• Synchronous APIs − The client waits for the server to respond before proceeding. REST APIs that return data immediately after a request.
• Asynchronous APIs − For example, Webhooks used in payment confirmation will send data to the client when the event occurs.

Creating Your First API Using Gemini Code Assist

Step 1: Create a Project in Gemini

First, you need to set up an environment in your IDE for Gemini by creating a new project and specifying project details like programming language, project details, API types, etc.

Step 2: Setting Up a Simple REST API in Node.js

Below is an example of a REST API built with Node.js that fetches a list of users −

Gemini Code Assist will help you auto-complete different functions like .get(), etc. ensuring developers write error-free code faster.

Step 3: Documenting APIs Using OpenAPI in Gemini

You can ask Gemini to automatically document all the resources and code files created in the project. This will help others to understand your project and how to interact with it.

Example YAML documentation for the /users endpoint −

Testing APIs with Gemini and Postman3

Testing APIs is crucial in order to understand that the data is transferred in a correct manner and that the endpoints behave correctly.

Mock API Testing in Gemini

Mock API testing is normally used in the early development stages where you need to simulate responses without using the actual backend services.

In Gemini, you can directly ask "Create a mock server with the following endpoint" and it will generate a mock response.

Example output −

Postman Integration for Advanced Testing

Export API Schema from Gemini to Postman

Gemini Prompt

Export the API schema for all endpoints in JSON format.

Gemini Output − A JSON schema file is generated for import into Postman.

Import Postman Collections into Gemini

• In Postman, export your collection as a JSON file.
• Use Geminis command prompt to import the collection from Postman.

Gemini Output − All Postman requests appear in Gemini for further customisation.

Run Postman Tests Directly from Gemini

Gemini allows triggering Postman collections through API automation.

Gemini Prompt example −

Execute Postman collection: OrdersAPI_Collection

Environment: Production

Gemini Output − Postman tests are triggered, and results are displayed inside Geminis interface.

Generate Automated Tests in Postman from Gemini

Ask Gemini −

Generate Postman test cases for the endpoint /payments:

Method: POST

Request: { "amount": 100, "currency": "USD" }

Test Assertion: Verify if the response code is 201 and the message is "Payment successful".

Gemini Output − Automated test scripts are generated and ready to import into Postman.

JSON
{
   "amount": 100,
   "currency": "USD"
}

Tips and Best Practices for API Development

Following are the best practices that you need to see for perfect API development without facing any redundancy during project execution.

• Make Your Code Flexible − You can split large APIs into smaller microservices.
• Use Environment Variables − In this, you can avoid hardcoding sensitive data such as API keys or any project code.
• Document as You Code − Keep up to date with the documentation, so you do not get out of focus and always have handy documentation ready for project team members.
• Implement Caching − You can also improve your project performance by caching frequent requests.

Gemini Code Assist provides you with everything needed in API development. It will help you to make documentation, conduct testing and deploy projects faster than ever.