API Producer–Consumer Topologies and Implementation Complexity

Producer <tspan style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 12px;">(API Provider)</tspan>

Consumer <tspan style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 12px;">(API Client)</tspan>

Internal APIs

Consumer <tspan style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 12px;">(API Clients)</tspan>

API as a Service

Producers

Producers <tspan style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 12px;">(Different)</tspan>

Consumers <tspan style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 12px;">(Applications)</tspan>

Open Ecosystem

One Producer → One Consumer

One Producer– Many Consumers

Many Producers ← Many Consumers