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Purpose of this Guide

The information in this guide will help you gain the knowledge necessary for design and development of APIs on Google Cloud's Apigee Edge platform. It will help you learn about API design and documentation best practices, as well as the features of the Apigee Edge platform.

The API Engineer Certification has been retired. Please see the Retirement FAQs for more details.

Training: Developing APIs

The Developing APIs with Google Cloud's Apigee API Platform course series, whether taken via in-person, virtual in-person, or online, will help you learn many of the topics you will need to know to develop APIs on the Apigee platform. This is a series of three courses.

The Developing APIs course series has been updated! Completely new slides and slide content, and new labs. Access the updated course on Coursera or Pluralsight.

Apigee API Program Excellence Course

The Apigee API Program Excellence e-learning course on Youtube teaches you about what is required to build a great API Program. This course teaches you what Apigee's Digital Engagement Lead team does, and is recommended for API Engineers who are interested in expanding beyond the technical aspects of API Management into the business and strategy aspects of API programs.

Topics

This document lists most of the important topics useful for an Apigee API Engineer, presenting links to the content with short descriptions. The information is organized by topic. At the end of this document is a List of Resources by Source, which will provide the same links organized by source. Note: Apigee API Engineer training will cover many of these topics, and some of the webcasts and eBooks will cover topics also explained in the online docs.

Getting Started

Certain resources should be viewed by every Apigee API developer. If you are just getting started with Apigee, these will give you a good foundation. Even if you are an experienced Apigee developer, you may find important concepts in these materials.

Note: Each of these documents is also listed in the topic-specific sections below.

Getting Started with Apigee API Management - Video tutorials for getting started with Apigee API management.

API Design: Third Edition - A classic webcast discussing API design patterns.

Understanding APIs and API Proxies - Overview of APIs and proxies.

Understanding organizations - Describes the components that make up an Apigee Edge organization.

Understanding routes - Overview of routes, which determine which TargetEndpoint will be used.

About Virtual Hosts - Overview of virtual hosts. Also see Virtual Host Property Reference.

Controlling how a proxy executes with flows - Explains the flow of a call through a proxy.

What is an API product?

Analytics Services overview

OAuth: The BIG Picture - Overview of when, how, and why to use OAuth.

Best practices for API proxy design and development - A great list of best practices to follow when designing API proxies. Be sure to drill down into links you find in this document.

Glossary - Glossary of Apigee Edge terms.

Apigee Naming Conventions - Naming conventions for code, proxies, key/value maps, etc.

General Resources

Apigee Online Docs - Official documentation for Apigee.

Apigee eBooks - Free eBooks on API development topics.

Apigee Webcasts - Webcasts on all topics related to Apigee Edge and APIs.

Apigee 4 minute videos for developers (4MV4D) - Short videos on Apigee Edge and API development topics.

Apigee Community - Community for asking and answering questions related to Apigee Edge and API development.

API Jam - Repository of a one-day lab showing the full lifecycle of an API.

Dino Chiesa's YouTube videos - Dino creates awesome videos to help you with some of the more difficult API and Apigee concepts.

Apigee DevRel - Various solutions and tools developed by customer-facing Apigee architects.

API Design Best Practices

API Design: Third Edition - A classic webcast discussing API design patterns.

Web API Design: The Missing Link - API design best practices - an excellent overview of API design concepts.

Pragmatic REST: The Next Generation - A webcast discussion of pragmatic REST concepts.

API Facade Pattern - Description of the façade pattern that can be implemented using Apigee Edge.

Apigee Edge Anti-Patterns - Some useful anti-patterns and solutions for Apigee Edge development. I recommend downloading the Anti-Patterns ebook that can be found at this link.

OpenAPI Specification 2.0 and API Documentation Best Practices

Create an API proxy from an OpenAPI Specification - Tutorial to create a proxy from an OpenAPI spec.

Best Practices for Defining an API Specification

Edge Policies

Policy reference overview - Top level index of all policy reference pages. Drill down into the policy-specific pages to see the options available for each Edge policy, as well as when each policy should be used.

JavaScript object model - Object model for JavaScript policies, including access to flow variables.

Comparing Quota, Spike Arrest, and Concurrent Rate Limit Policies

OAuthV2 policy

JWT policies

SAML Assertion policies

How to create a Java callout - Cookbook for creating a callout.

Policy error reference - Error messages and flow variables set when policy errors occur.

Edge Proxy Design

Getting Started with Apigee API Management - Video tutorials for getting started with Apigee API management.

Understanding APIs and API Proxies - Overview of APIs and proxies.

API proxy configuration reference - Reference of proxy structure.

Endpoint properties reference - ProxyEndpoint and TargetEndpoint configuration properties.

Variables reference - Predefined variables available within proxies.

Conditions reference - Conditions enable dynamic control of proxies.

About message templates - String substitution via variables and functions within policies and endpoint elements. Also see Message template function reference.

Understanding organizations - Describes the components that make up an Apigee Edge organization.

Best practices for API proxy design and development - A great list of best practices to follow when designing API proxies. Be sure to drill down into links you find in this document.

Understanding routes - Overview of routes, which determine which TargetEndpoint will be used.

About Virtual Hosts - Overview of virtual hosts. Also see Virtual Host Property Reference.

Controlling how a proxy executes with flows - Explains the flow of a call through a proxy.

Managing proxy state with flow variables - Description of use of flow variables in proxies.

Handling faults - Description of fault handling in Edge.

Working with key value maps - Includes encrypted and unencrypted KVMs.

Support for HTTP response header (ResponseCache) - Use of caching headers.

Working with cache keys - Cache key details.

Cache internals - Implementation of caches in Edge.

Reusable shared flows - How to create and use shared flows for code reuse. Also see Attaching a shared flow using a flow hook.

Chaining API proxies together - Tutorial on proxy chaining.

Implementing HTTP Clients in JavaScript - Describes how to use JavaScript to make http calls.

Glossary - Glossary of Apigee Edge terms.

Error Handling Pattern for Proxies - Describes a clean way to handle creation of error messages within your proxy.

API Products, Developers, and Apps

Create API products - Also see What is an API product?

Managing app developers

Register apps and manage API keys

Making sense of API product configuration

Edge Analytics

Analytics Services overview

Analytics dashboards - List of dashboards available out-of-the-box.

Using the analytics dashboards - Use of the Edge Analytics UI. Also see

Build and Implement your API Analytics Strategy - Webcast overview of Edge Analytics.

Analytics metrics, dimensions, and filters reference

Edge Troubleshooting and Debugging

Using the Trace tool - Using the trace tool for debugging proxy issues.

Troubleshooting Playbooks - Guides for troubleshooting Edge, and troubleshooting FAQs.

Apigee Troubleshooting Videos - Videos to help with common troubleshooting scenarios.

Policy Error Playbooks - Complete error description and troubleshooting guidance for Edge runtime and deployment policy errors.

Product limits - Complete error description and troubleshooting guidance for Edge runtime and deployment policy errors.

Edge Deployment and Environment Promotion

API development lifecycle - Overview of API Lifecycle using Edge environments.

npm apigeetool - Node tool for deploying proxies and other resources to Edge.

Edge Developer Portal

There are two types of developer portals: Drupal-based and integrated. The Drupal-based portal is more powerful, and the integrated portal is easier to use.

What is a developer portal? - Overview of developer portals.

Differences between the Drupal and integrated developer portals

Drupal developer portal FAQ

Integrated developer portal documentation

Edge Monetization

Understand monetization - Summary of the monetization feature available in Apigee Edge. Drill down into other monetization topics in the docs.

API Security Topics and Best Practices

OAuth2 - This is the landing page for a wealth of topics on OAuth 2. Drill down into those topics.

API keys - An overview of API key validation for APIs.

OAuth: The BIG Picture - Overview of when, how, and why to use OAuth.

How to Integrate with Different Identity Management Systems - Identity management integration using Edge.

Advanced Security Extensions in Apigee Edge - Webcast includes discussion of JWT tokens. This webcast was created before the JWT policies were available in Edge.

OWASP Best Practices to Protect Your APIs from Security Vulnerabilities - Webcast discussing using Edge to protect against OWASP vulnerabilities.

About TLS/SSL - Description of one-way and two-way SSL/TLS terminology and flows.

Keystores and Truststores - Description of keystores and truststores used for SSL/TLS communication.

Data masking and hiding - Description of features in Edge that control visibility of data in logs and tracing.

Using Third-Party OAuth Tokens - How to use third-party OAuth tokens within Apigee.

API Lifecycle Topics and Best Practices

A Checklist for Every API Call - Topics to be considered for every API.

Digital Business Survival Guide - Guide to building an API program.

The Digital Transformation Journey - Insights into digital transformations of several companies.

Continuous Integration for API Proxies - Overview of continuous integration for APIs.

Forming an API Test Strategy - Where to Start - Getting started with API testing.

Apigee CI/CD with Cloud Source repositories, Cloud Build, and Cloud KMS - An example of how to use Google Cloud as your CI/CD pipeline.

Edge Microgateway

Deep Dive - Apigee Edge Microgateway - A webcast describing the features of Microgateway and demoing it. From 2016, but most of the content still applies. Also see the 4MV4D series on Microgateway.

Developing custom plugins - Step-by-step for developing custom Microgateway plugins.

Edge Microgateway FAQ

Edge Hosted Targets (native Node.js targets)

Hosted Targets overview

Hosted Targets tutorials

Hosted Targets reference

Hosted Targets FAQ

List of Resources by Source

Apigee Online Docs

• Understanding APIs and API Proxies
• API proxy configuration reference
• Endpoint properties reference
• Variables reference
• Conditions reference
• About message templates
• Message template function reference
• Policy error reference
• Understanding organizations
• Best practices for API proxy design and development
• Policy reference overview
• JavaScript object model
• About TLS/SSL
• Keystores and Truststores
• Understanding routes
• About Virtual Hosts
• Virtual Host Property Reference
• Controlling how a proxy executes with flows
• Managing proxy state with flow variables
• Handling faults
• Working with key value maps
• Support for HTTP response header (ResponseCache)
• Working with cache keys
• Cache internals
• Reusable shared flows
• Attaching a shared flow using a flow hook
• Chaining API proxies together
• OAuth2
• API keys
• Create API products
• What is an API product?
• Managing app developers
• Register apps and manage API keys
• Comparing Quota, Spike Arrest, and Concurrent Rate Limit Policies
• OAuthV2 policy
• JWT policies
• SAML Assertion policies
• Data masking and hiding
• Implementing HTTP Clients in JavaScript
• How to create a Java callout
• Create an API proxy from an OpenAPI Specification
• API development lifecycle
• Using the Trace tool
• Troubleshooting Playbooks
• Analytics metrics, dimensions, and filters reference
• Analytics Services overview
• Analytics dashboards
• Using the analytics dashboards
• What is a developer portal?
• Understand monetization
• Edge Microgateway FAQ
• Hosted Targets overview
• Hosted Targets tutorials
• Hosted Targets reference
• Hosted Targets FAQ
• Developing custom plugins
• Policy Error Playbooks
• Differences between the Drupal and integrated developer portals
• Integrated developer portal documentation
• Apigee Edge Anti-Patterns
• Using Third-Party OAuth Tokens
• Product limits

Apigee eBooks

• Web API Design: The Missing Link
• OAuth: The BIG Picture
• A Checklist for Every API Call
• Digital Business Survival Guide
• The Digital Transformation Journey
• API Facade Pattern

Apigee Webcasts

• Getting Started with Apigee API Management
• How to Integrate with Different Identity Management Systems
• Advanced Security Extensions in Apigee Edge
• OWASP Best Practices to Protect Your APIs from Security Vulnerabilities
• Build and Implement your API Analytics Strategy
• Deep Dive - Apigee Edge Microgateway
• API Design: Third Edition
• Pragmatic REST: The Next Generation

Apigee Community

• Making sense of API product configuration
• Continuous Integration for API Proxies
• Forming an API Test Strategy - Where to Start
• Best Practices for Defining an API Specification
• Error Handling Pattern for Proxies
• Apigee CI/CD with Cloud Source repositories, Cloud Build, and Cloud KMS

• Apigee Naming Conventions

Github

• API Jam
• Apigee DevRel

Youtube videos

• 4 minute videos for developers
• Apigee Troubleshooting Videos
• Apigee API Program Excellence Course
• Dino Chiesa's YouTube videos

Other links

• npm apigeetool