How to optimise developer experience with platform engineering

Platform engineering significantly enhances the developer experience by creating an internal, centralized developer platform that offers self-service resources such as toolchains, workflows, and versioned artifacts. Key elements include a consultative and collaborative process where the platform team works closely with developers to tailor the platform according to their tools and technologies. The self-service aspect empowers developers with "golden paths"—clear, supported routes for application development—enabling greater efficiency and innovation. Standardization and automation further enhance productivity by reducing friction and allowing developers to focus on their core tasks. Best practices for a developer-centric platform emphasize treating the platform as a product that evolves based on developer needs, requiring ongoing refinement to ensure an intuitive user experience that supports agile collaboration. The use of APIs, supported by solutions like Tyk, plays a crucial role in integrating platform elements, enabling elastic resource provisioning, and ensuring reliable performance, which collectively support an optimized developer experience.