API Experts - APIs that Move Money

The interview with Jack Flintermann Reed, an engineer at Increase, explores the strategic decisions and challenges around API development and developer experience (DevEx) at the company. Increase offers a REST API to developers, having previously experimented with GraphQL, but found REST more user-friendly due to its simplicity and the universal availability of HTTP clients. The company focuses on minimizing dependencies in its SDKs to facilitate ease of use, drawing from Reed's experience at Stripe. OpenAPI is used for documentation and client generation, albeit with reservations about its complexity. Increase prioritizes a strong developer experience by investing in high-quality documentation and a sandbox environment, which helps developers integrate quickly while complying with banking regulations. The conversation touches on the evolving landscape of API DevEx, the influence of Stripe as a benchmark, and the increasing democratization of API product quality, suggesting a future where off-the-shelf solutions may simplify the development process.