This presentation was for a meetup at Intuit on May 23, 2024
This presentation goes into detail on the key principles behind the Netflix API, including design, resiliency, scaling, and deployment. Among other things, I discuss our migration from our REST API to what we call our Experienced-Based API design. It also shares several of our open source efforts such as Zuul, Scryer, Hystrix, RxJava and the Simian Army.
This presentation was given to the engineering organization at Zendesk on May 9, 2014. In this presentation, I talk about the challenges that the Netflix API faces in supporting the 1000+ different device types, millions of users, and billions of transactions. The topics range from resiliency, scale, API design, failure injection, continuous delivery, and more.
Most API providers focus on solving all three of the key challenges for APIs: data gathering, data formatting and data delivery. All three of these functions are critical for the success of an API, however, not all should be solved by the API provider. Rather, the API consumers have a strong, vested interest in the formatting and delivery. As a result, API design should be addressed based on the true separation of concerns between the needs of the API provider and the various API consumers.
This presentation goes into the separation of concerns. It also goes into depth in how Netflix has solved for this problem through a very different approach to API design.
This full presentation was at the Mashery Business of APIs Conference in 2013.
Daniel Jacobson, Director of API Engineering at Netflix, discusses the evolution of the company’s API program using Simon Sinek’s ‘Start With Why’ framework. Jacobson stresses the importance of designing an API that answers the company’s philosophical needs before deciding how to best expose the platform to internal or external developers. Jacobson further explains why APIs are critical to the success of developer communities, business partnerships, internal development efficiencies and device proliferation.
Key Points:
Ensure system reliability and resiliency by scaling the API with the business
The advantage of optimizing systems for rapid innovation and improved product experience
Why it may be necessary to consider hardware constraints when designing an API
“We’re focusing on our streaming application — what Netflix is trying to do — and then we’re implementing a tactic, which happens to be an API, to accomplish that.”
The following is the video of the full presentation:
The term “scale” for engineering often is used to discuss systems and their ability to grow with the needs of its users. This is clearly an important aspect of scaling, but there are many other areas in which an engineering organization needs to scale to be successful in the long term. This presentation discusses some of those other areas and details how Netflix (and specifically the API team) addresses them.
Comments Off on Presentation : Maintaining the Netflix Front Door – Intuit Meetup 
Themocracy