Low-code API Prototyping Using Webhooks - by Bruno Pedro
I wouldn't believe it if someone told me I'd use a webhook to create an API prototype. When I hear "webhook," I think of a call-back or a notification. Webhooks are, in fact, meant to notify subscribers of event changes. An example of a webhook in action is what happens when you receive a GitHub notification on Slack. GitHub classifies webhooks as "a way for notifications to be delivered to an external web server whenever certain events occur." And Slack's API is prepared to receive incoming webhooks seamlessly. But how can you use webhooks to create an API prototype? And without writing any code. Stay with me.
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Webhooks have existed for a long time. As a technology, they started with something more primitive called a hook. With a hook, you can make a call to a function, informing it whenever something interesting happens in your application. Another way to look at hooks is through the lens of the "Observer" behavioral design pattern. The Observer pattern lets you define one or multiple subscribers that will receive notifications about interesting events that occur in your application. This notification pattern evolved from existing within the boundaries of an application to communicating with external Web services. Noticing this trend taking place, Jeff Lindsay coined the term webhook.
