我们如何在Slack设计我们的API

More than five years ago, we launched the Slack Platform, giving developers an easy way to build apps in Slack and publish them in our App Directory. Today, millions of users bring their work into Slack, and those apps built by over 885,000 active developers on the platform are key to further improving collaboration in Slack. 

五年多前，我们推出了Slack平台，为开发者提供了在Slack中构建应用程序并在我们的应用程序目录中发布的简便方法。今天，数以百万计的用户将他们的工作带入Slack，而那些由该平台上超过88.5万名活跃的开发者构建的应用程序是进一步改善Slack中协作的关键。

Over the years, one thing we keep top of mind is designing for a great developer experience. While we can change the implementation of our features under the hood, removing or changing the behavioral contract for an existing API is very hard. That’s why it’s important to carefully think about your API design from the very beginning. 

多年来，我们一直牢记的一件事就是设计出一个良好的开发者体验。虽然我们可以改变我们的功能的实现，但删除或改变现有API的行为契约是非常困难的。这就是为什么从一开始就仔细考虑你的API设计是很重要的。

If APIs are designed well, developers will love them, and can become the most creative innovators using your APIs. They will invest heavily, and sometimes even become evangelists for your APIs. We also value a developer’s time and the resource they risk by building on our platform. Bad API design leads to a bare minimum adoption, and even frustration. Bad APIs become a liability for a company.

如果API设计得好，开发者就会喜欢它们，并能成为使用你的API的最有创意的创新者。他们会大量投资，有时甚至成为你的API的传道者。我们也重视开发者的时间和他们在我们平台上构建的资源风险。糟糕的API设计会导致最低限度的采用，甚至是挫败感。坏的API会成为公司的负担。

This is not to say that Slack has always designed APIs well. We made mistakes, and the platform certainly could provide a friendlier developer experience. But by recognizing those mistakes and identifying how to improve them — even sometimes doubling down on being consistent with a past choice we would not agree with in the present — we can improve the developer experience holistically.

这并不是说Slack总是把API设计得很好。我们犯了错误，平台当然可以提供一个更友好的开发者体验。但是，通过认识到这些错误，并确定如何改进它们--甚至有时加倍坚持过去的选择，我们在现在不会同意--我们可以全面改善开发者的体验。

Developing your own API style guide can’t completely save you from making crummy decisions or preventing today’s enth...