On Importance Of Programming Interfaces

Software is built on top of programming interfaces. Every time an application has to contact any third party service (DB, mailing agent, API), it has to use a proper interface (and protocol) to do that. This article contains general thoughts on why interfaces are essential and how to use them properly.

Communication Standard

A programming interface (or just interface) defines a communication standard between different applications or separate parts of the same application. It usually works based on the request and response data by specifying expectations about the data format and content.

In other words, interface forces applications to use the same data format to interact with each other. This way, all sides can be sure about the data they are passing and receiving and may spend less time and resources on data check and validation.

Interfaces provide an excellent opportunity for a quick and convenient integration between multiple applications using the same approach. It is not even important who passing data as long as it uses a proper interface in many cases.

A good interface must be properly documented so that other applications will be aware of expected credentials, request and response format, and overall processing flow.

Simplification Tool

Interfaces simplify work in three main technical areas.

First, interfaces allow simplifying integration between different applications. Common communication standards and data formats with proper documentation cover a significant part of technical requirements for integration. Besides that, standard interfaces may be reused in multiple projects to build an integration that is easy to understand and implement.

Second, interfaces make code modification and refactoring simpler. When a developer knows how different applications or components can interact, he may cover the required functionality with tests based on the expectations. That speeds up the development process and maintains overall quality.

Third, an application that uses interfaces is significantly easier to debug and support. The developer needs to find which component causes a bug or a problem by testing standard interfaces one by one. When the issue is found and fixed, he can add a new test to the interface to prevent future problems.

Business Solution

Unsurprisingly, interfaces help a lot in solving business problems too.

The main business advantage of interfaces is that they allow solving known or similar issues without reinventing the wheel. When the approach is straightforward, and communication formats are predefined, the developer can concentrate on the implementation instead of long and tedious investigation and decomposition sessions.

Consequently, an implementation based on the interfaces takes less time and resources, so the overall development process is more efficient. Properly organized and documented interfaces also lower the minimum qualification required to work on implementation, saving human and financial resources.

Finally, the business wants all applications to be integrated, and interfaces solve this issue too. The software architect has to spend a little more time in the very beginning to plan and document integration interfaces, but later it is going to save resources on each new integrated application.

There are the main reasons why programming interface is an essential part of the development process. Use it wisely, and you can optimize the development process and save a lot of time and resources!