profile

The Friday Loop

How to Design a REST API That Doesn’t SUCK| Issue #10

Published over 1 year ago • 2 min read

Hi there,

​

Want to improve your REST API design? Then this week’s video is for you! 🌟

I’ll share 6 easy tips for creating user-friendly, consistent, and easily integrated REST APIs.

We’ll dive into often-overlooked aspects of REST API design, including:

  • Following standards like OpenAPI specs and OAuth for authentication 🛠️
  • Ensuring consistency in formats and naming conventions 📏
  • Keeping things simple with sensible defaults, and much more! ✨

Even big companies sometimes miss these crucial details, making their APIs harder to use. 😅

Stick around until the end for BONUS tips! 🎁
​

Enjoy the video and happy coding! 🚀

​

Cheers,

Arjan

video preview​

# News

Secure Python Projects

This week, learn how to securely manage configurations and sensitive information using environment variables and dotfiles.

Protect your API keys, manage database connections, and centralize configurations effortlessly. Click here to read the blog and enhance your workflow. 🔗

Understanding Code Coverage 🧑‍💻

Marcus Buffett recently published an insightful blog post exploring the nuanced role of abstractions in programming. 🖥️

He breaks down how abstractions can make code safer and more flexible, but also warns about potential downsides like fragility and complexity.

This article is a must-read for developers looking to master the balance between abstraction and practical coding. Click here to find out more. 🛠️

# Community

Curious about the pros and cons of type hinting and static typing? 💭

Our community recently had an engaging discussion on this topic, exploring insights from industry experts and sharing personal experiences. The conversation covers how type hints can improve code clarity, support from IDEs, and reduce the need for extensive documentation. There’s also a lively debate on whether type annotations adhere to the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle or add unnecessary redundancy.

Dive into the full discussion and enhance your understanding of type hinting! Read the full thread here. 📚

Do you enjoy my content on YouTube and would you like to dive in deeper? Check out my online courses below. They've helped thousands of developers take the next step in their careers.

🚀 The Mindset Online Course Series

The goal of this series is to help junior developers grow their skills to become senior developers faster.

💥 Other Courses

💡 If you’re part of a development team at a company, I offer special packages for companies that give your team the tools to consistently write high-quality code and dramatically increase your team's productivity.

🪄 Learntail

My team and I created an AI quiz generator designed to accelerate your learning, called Learntail. You can try it for free or unlock even more capabilities and features with the monthly subscription. Take a look here.

​Unsubscribe | Send by ArjanCodes

Wolvenplein 25, Utrecht, UT 3512 CK

The Friday Loop

by ArjanCodes

Every Friday, you'll get a recap of the most important and exciting Python and coding news. The Friday Loop also keeps everyone posted on new ArjanCodes courses and any limited offers coming up.

Read more from The Friday Loop

Hi there, If you’ve been learning Python for a while and still feel like you’re not improving, you’re not alone. Python feels easy at first. The syntax is clean, the barrier to entry is low, and you can build something useful in your first hour. But then… things get weird. You hit a wall. There’s object-oriented programming. Then functional programming. Then decorators, dunder methods, typing, Protocol, mypy, async… And somehow Python lets you write the same thing five different ways, and...

2 days ago • 1 min read

Hi there, You’ve probably heard developers say "That’s not very Pythonic…" But what is Pythonic code, really? Is it about using list comprehensions? Avoiding for-loops? Dressing up like Guido van Rossum? In this week’s video, I answer that question by taking a small, messy Python script and refactoring it step-by-step using the principles behind idiomatic Python. Along the way, I’ll show you what it means to think like a Python developer, using things like: Functions instead of unnecessary...

9 days ago • 1 min read

Hi there, Have you ever found yourself writing functions like this? def render_article(article_id, db, logger, user, config, feature_flags, etc): …and then passing the same parameters through five different layers of your app? In my latest video, I walk through a realistic Python example and show how to fix this mess using the Context Object Pattern. I’ll start with the "before" version, refactor step by step, and explore: How to group related dependencies using a context object When this...

16 days ago • 1 min read