Brick by Brick What Lego Taught Me About Great APIs
summary
Claim: executing a few fundamentals reliably produces great APIs. Uses Lego as concrete evidence: building a Star Wars AT‑ST walker reveals reused parts (Indiana Jones bullet, paint‑roller engine grill) and multimodal manuals (print plus mobile app). Lessons translate to code: step-by-step instructions in docs, composable building blocks, naming and behavioral consistency, and a strict upgrade policy — break only on major bumps. Lego proves longterm backwards compatibility (first brick 1958 still fits 64 years later) and prioritizes empathy for users.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction
- 3:55API fundamentals from Lego
- 10:57Documentation best practices
- 16:15Composition and reusability
- 20:07Consistency in APIs
- 22:38Backwards compatibility
- 26:48Empathy in API design
- 29:20Q&A and closing
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