Open Source Insider

The 5 API cornerstones of ADE (API Development Environment)

Adrian Bridgwater
Adrian Bridgwater

Slightly cheesy with a dash of spin perhaps? But API (Application Programming Interface) development is now a real ‘thing’, so should we look more deeply into what API development involves? For real developers, we mean.

The ADE (API Development Environment) streamlines the development process for API developers.

ADE, a new term created by Postman, is argued to be a logical extension of the IDE (Integrated Development Environment), which provides an integrated set of components to support software development within a User Interface.

The API workflow complements and overlaps with the software development cycle.

The company says that a strong ADE will integrate with software development at multiple points to provide these benefits and more in a single environment:

  1. Testing & Debugging: ADE provides a single place to debug, create tests and scripts, and run automated tests over time.
  2. Accurate API Documentation: ADE enables devs to maintain a single source of truth for the API as it gets updated and improved over time.
  3. Collaboration & Version Control: ADE allows devs to collaborate in real time with effective access to version control.
  4. Flexibility in Specification and Design: ADE captures multiple forms of existing API specs and allows creation of an API spec.
  5. Ease of Publishing: ADE helps API publisher get their API in the hands of developers so they can onboard quickly and effectively.