| As someone who works on a SaaS product, one of our biggest costs is our stable API surface. Internal APIs are essentially free, but for a public API we have to: - Implement a conversion layer from our internal representation so we can keep it stable. - Complicate all further feature work because we have to consider how it will affect existing customers of the API. - Write and maintain documentation for the API. - Keep the API working even after we no longer use it. - Maintain multiple versions of the API in parallel. - Make sure our error messages make sense to people not familiar with our internal systems. - Be more careful with validation - for our internal APIs it's not the end of the world if a bad request results in a 500 rather than a 400, but it matters a lot for public APIs. - Be more careful with rate limiting and other defenses against API misuse. And this is to name just a few. A requirement that everyone expose a public API is pointless if it doesn't include a stability guarantee, and overly burdensome if it does. |
This isn’t a requirement that everyone expose a public API . https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22994234/eu-antitrust-leg...:
“The DMA will force new obligations on companies deemed to be “gatekeepers” — a category defined by the legislation as firms with a market capitalization of at least €75 billion ($82 billion); at least 45 million monthly users; and a “platform” like an app or social network. Companies covered by this classification include well-known tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Apple, but also smaller entities like Booking.com.”