[openstack-dev] [api] Forming the API Working Group

Preston L. Bannister preston at bannister.us
Sun Oct 12 00:32:49 UTC 2014


Tricky. First, I am new to OpenStack, and as such tend to want to shut-up
and listen.

Second, I have done APIs for distributed systems for over 30 years. Yes, I
got in very early. As such I am guilty of or saw lots of bad examples. Also
I found patterns that worked very well.

That said, the approach to APIs and versioning in OpenStack ... does not
make sense, to me. Seems a mess. Maybe I am wrong. Or not.

The notion of a group that offers living advice to the various OpenStack
projects on APIs is - I think - a good notion. Written guidelines are good,
to a point, but only that. Interpreting static documents has limits.

My current impression is the folk offering APIs need help. So if this
offering evaluates in the end as help, this is a good idea. :)



On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 9:09 AM, Jay Pipes <jaypipes at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for getting this going, Everett! Comments inline...
>
> On 10/08/2014 07:05 PM, Everett Toews wrote:
>
>> https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/API_Working_Group
>>
>> This is the start of the API Working Group (API WG).
>>
>
> yay! :)
>
>  To avoid bike shedding over the name of the working group, I decided
>> to title the wiki page API Working Group. Simple, to the point, and
>> avoids loaded terms like standards, best practices, guidelines,
>> conventions, etc.
>>
>
> Yup, ++
>
>  The point isn’t what we name it. The point is what action we take
>> about it. I propose the deliverables in the API WG wiki page.
>>
>> Speaking of the wiki page, I wrote it very matter-of-factly. As if
>> this is the way things are. They’re not. The wiki page is just a
>> starting point. If something was missed, add it. If something can be
>> improved, improve it. Let’s try to keep it simple though.
>>
>
> The wiki content looks fine, with the exception that I really do feel the
> working group needs to have some ability to review and enforce consistency
> within proposed REST APIs. The wording right now is:
>
> "The API WG is focused on creating guidelines for the APIs"
>
> which of course is fine, but I think that the Technical Committee should
> essentially grant the working group the power to enforce guidelines and
> consistency for proposed new REST APIs -- whether it's a new REST API
> version in an existing project or a REST APi for a newly-proposed OpenStack
> server project.
>
>  I invite everyone who chimed in on the original thread [1] that
>> kicked this off to add themselves as a member committed to making the
>> OpenStack APIs better. I’ve Cc’d everyone who asked to be kept in the
>> loop.
>>
>> I already see some cross project summit topics [2] on APIs. But
>> frankly, with the number of people committed to this topic, I’d
>> expect there to be more. I encourage everyone to submit more API
>> related sessions with better descriptions and goals about what you
>> want to achieve in those sessions.
>>
>
> Will do.
>
> Best,
> -jay
>
>
>  Regards, Everett
>>
>> [1]
>> http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/openstack-dev/2014-
>> September/046850.html
>> [2] https://etherpad.openstack.org/p/kilo-crossproject-summit-topics
>>
>
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