In my interactions with people on designing and building APIs, Hypermedia has always been the most difficult to get across. I've tried explaining it from different perspectives and here's the one that stuck. After using this on 50+ people, it's time for spreading the message.
The metaphor: "Hypermedia is the door of your API".
An API without Hypermedia is like a room without doors. When one is in this room, one can admire its furnishings, the color of the walls, the curtains, the paintings, the lovely view outside or maybe even the carpet and plants. In short, one can appreciate the beauty of the room. And that's pretty much there's to it.
Hypermedia is the door. And it's through doors that you get places. It's the doors that allow you to explore the world beyond the room. And because the room was so beautiful, the door holds a lot of promise. A promise to something magical. Hypermedia essentially is the link to this magical space which can now be explored.
The following image helps me remember this promise of Hypermedia
The metaphor: "Hypermedia is the door of your API".
An API without Hypermedia is like a room without doors. When one is in this room, one can admire its furnishings, the color of the walls, the curtains, the paintings, the lovely view outside or maybe even the carpet and plants. In short, one can appreciate the beauty of the room. And that's pretty much there's to it.
Hypermedia is the door. And it's through doors that you get places. It's the doors that allow you to explore the world beyond the room. And because the room was so beautiful, the door holds a lot of promise. A promise to something magical. Hypermedia essentially is the link to this magical space which can now be explored.
The following image helps me remember this promise of Hypermedia
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