Top API books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite API books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of API

Understanding the concepts of API starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Designing Web APIs: Building APIs That Developers Love

Using a web API to provide services to application developers is one of the more satisfying endeavors that software engineers undertake. But building a popular API with a thriving developer ecosystem is also one of the most challenging. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Hands-On RESTful API Design Patterns and Best Practices: Design, Develop, and Deploy Highly Adaptable, Scalable, and Secure RESTful Web APIs

This book deals with the Representational State Transfer (REST) paradigm, which is an architectural style that allows networked devices to communicate with each other over the internet. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

REST in Practice

Why don't typical enterprise projects go as smoothly as projects you develop for the Web? Does the REST architectural style really present a viable alternative for building distributed systems and enterprise-class applications? ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Unbundling the Enterprise: APIs, Optionality, and the Science of Happy Accidents

Unbundling the Enterprise provides a blueprint for organizations to remain relevant and maximize growth in the digital economy by embracing the flexibility and optionality enabled by APIs.
Drawing on real-world examples of both innovative “digital pirates” and legacy “digital settlers,” authors Stephen Fishman and Matt McLarty articulate strategies to unbundle business capabilities into reu…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming

Go has rapidly become the preferred language for building web services. Plenty of tutorials are available to teach Go's syntax to developers with experience in other programming languages, but tutorials aren't enough. They don't teach Go's idioms, so developers end up recreating patterns that don't make sense in a Go context. This practical guide provides the essential background you need to w…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

REST API Development with Node.js: Manage and Understand the Full Capabilities of Successful REST Development

Manage and understand the full capabilities of successful REST development. REST API development is a hot topic in the programming world, but not many resources exist for developers to really understand ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional API Reading

These books are not required for you to learn API, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

System Design Interview – An insider's guide

System design questions are often the most difficult of all technical interview questions. This book makes them easier to tackle. It is Volume 1 of the ‘System Design Interview - An Insider’s Guide’ series. This volume provides a reliable strategy and knowledge base for approaching a broad range of system design questions that you may encounter. It will help you feel confident during this impo…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

RESTful API Design

Looking for Best Practices for RESTful APIs?This book is for you! Why? Because this book is packed with practical experience on what works best for RESTful API Design. You want to design APIs like a Pro? Use API description languages to both design APIs and develop APIs efficiently. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Design of Web APIs

Summary The Design of Web APIs is a practical, example-packed guide to crafting extraordinary web APIs. Author Arnaud Lauret demonstrates fantastic design principles and techniques you can apply to both public and private web APIs. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Prompt Engineering for LLMs: The Art and Science of Building Large Language Model–Based Applications

Large language models (LLMs) are revolutionizing the world, promising to automate tasks and solve complex problems. A new generation of software applications are using these models as building blocks to unlock new potential in almost every domain, but reliably accessing these capabilities requires new skills. This book will teach you the art and science of prompt engineering-the key to unlocki…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Undisturbed REST: A Guide to Designing the Perfect API

Believe it or not, building an API is the easy part. What is far more challenging is to put together a design that will stand the test of time, while also meeting your developers' needs. After all, no matter how well written your code may be, without a strong foundation, you will find your API quickly failing. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World

The popularity of REST in recent years has led to tremendous growth in almost-RESTful APIs that don’t include many of the architecture’s benefits. With this practical guide, you’ll learn what it takes to design usable REST APIs that evolve over time. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Specializations and Deeper API Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. API is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Mastering API Architecture

Most organizations with a web presence build and operate APIs; the doorway for customers to interact with the company's services. Designing, building, and managing these critical programs affect everyone in the organization, from engineers and product owners to C-suite executives. ...

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

Augment your API books

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

Only 5 Spot Left

Hi, I'm Jiri. I'm a seasoned data engineering leader with love for building resilient teams and great systems. Over the years, I’ve helped shape and deliver data strategies across a wide range of industries, from sustainability and healthcare to motorsport and banking. Currently serving as Director of Data Engineering, I …

$120 / month

Only 1 Spot Left

Are you a junior developer looking to fast track your career in web development? Do you need guidance on learning the right and up to date content, building real-world projects, and preparing for job interviews? Look no further! I am a Senior Software Engineer with 9 years of experience in …

$180 / month

Only 5 Spot Left

Mentored 8 mentees to raises or jobs in the past year Elliot is a freelance Data Scientist with 7+ years of experience, including working with an Olympic team and creating an NBA salary model for Hazan Sports Management, an NBA sports agency. He co-founded a soccer computer vision company that …

$200 / month

Only 1 Spot Left

What's your vision of leadership? Can you describe your leadership approach in one sentence? Without simply listing your responsibilities as an engineering leader, can you capture the core values and behaviours you provide that unlock value in your teams and organization? These aren't straightforward questions -- they require truly understanding …

$80 / month

Only 5 Spot Left

I have been in the software industry for almost 20 years and have worked in a variety of domains, including gaming, e-commerce, healthcare, finance, and insurance, to name a few. Currently, I am a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft Canada. I’d be happy to offer mentorship on a wide range …

$200 / month

Only 4 Spot Left

With over 17+ years of expertise in product development, I am specialized in the developing of multi-tier, client-server, event-driven, and distributed applications. Over the past few years, I have worked on technology transformational projects for renowned organizations such as Volkswagen, SAP Labs, Transamerica, and AMEX. My core expertise includes: - …

$150 / month

Browse all API mentors

Still not convinced? Don't just take our word for it

We've already delivered 1-on-1 mentorship to thousands of students, professionals, managers and executives. Even better, they've left an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for our mentors.

Find a API mentor
  • "Naz is an amazing person and a wonderful mentor. She is supportive and knowledgeable with extensive practical experience. Having been a manager at Netflix, she also knows a ton about working with teams at scale. Highly recommended."

  • "Brandon has been supporting me with a software engineering job hunt and has provided amazing value with his industry knowledge, tips unique to my situation and support as I prepared for my interviews and applications."

  • "Sandrina helped me improve as an engineer. Looking back, I took a huge step, beyond my expectations."