How to Design APIs That Scale Seamlessly with Growing Demand

Practical strategies to create APIs that perform under pressure

When I first established an API for a side project, I thought I had everything figured out. It worked fine for a few users, but when traffic mounted over the weekend, the entire system failed.

That experience taught me the hard way that developing APIs is more than just producing something helpful; it’s about establishing something that can evolve without breaking down.

In this essay, I will demonstrate how I learned to develop APIs that can handle rising demand. Whether you’re just getting started or have a lot of traffic, these tips can help you develop APIs that scale like a dream.

Begin with a solid foundation

Your API’s design is like a house’s foundation; get it wrong, and nothing else matters. Depending on your requirements, consider using RESTful or GraphQL.

REST is ideal for simplicity and standardization, however GraphQL allows for greater flexibility when dealing with sophisticated queries.

For example, I once worked on a project where clients needed custom data sets. Switching from REST to GraphQL reduced the payload size by 40% and improved response times by 30%. The lesson? Choose the…