OAuth 2.0 (RFC 6749) is a great authorization framework but it leaves much up to the imagination. Luckily, there are numerous extensions that expand, explain, and clarify the basic capabilities to build a robust and powerful suite of standards. That said, there’s one unobviously complex area which gets little attention: Scopes. What is an OAuth Scope? […]
Building software is hard. You have all the fun of being excruciatingly specific in certain situations, incredibly general the rest of the time, and expressing all of it in a language that isn’t your own. In the context of a new product – whether it’s for a startup or an established company – it’s even […]
I’ve told this story many times in person but I’m documenting it here so others can be horrified amused… Note: All of this was 100% public information that I could find via simple searches from my own account. I did not attempt to get additional access, hack any accounts, perform any social engineering, or purchase […]
API Documentation comes in a variety of forms. You can find it in pdfs, html, or even a Postman-collection that lets you play immediately. You can provide project examples, detailed blog posts, or video walk throughs.There are tradeoffs of each. Regardless of how you deliver the documentation, all documentation fall into one of three buckets: […]
I’m not a branding strategist. I am not a designer. I came into technical marketing through the backdoor of developer evangelism. In terms of my own approaches to marketing, I have reasonably good instincts but nothing resembling formal training. That said, I know when something is awful. A few years ago, my friend and occasional […]
Recently I had a meeting with an entrepreneur just getting his product off the ground. He has a functional app, a small but active user base, and has been pitching potential customers. He’s talking with his active users regularly and soliciting feedback. By all accounts, he’s doing the right things and moving in the right […]
All opinions and analysis in this post reflect my experience and opinion, not those of current or previous employers. They did not review or approve of this in any form. For years I’ve advised everyone from solo developers to Fortune 50 companies on the best approaches to designing and building APIs in addition to numerous […]
After college, I resolved to read one book a month. It can be fiction, non-fiction, technical, business-oriented, or whatever as the goal was to always be absorbing and digesting new ideas and information, even just for fun. This year I flew over 100k miles and combined with reading for a few minutes before bed each night, I got […]
Disclosure: I am a shareholder of both Twilio and Okta and currently employed by Okta. Nothing here reflects the internals of either company, forward looking statements, or guidance related to either. If you’re looking for financial or investment advice, talk to your financial advisor or accountant. Don’t go it alone or blindly follow internet advice. […]
After college, I resolved to read one book a month. It can be fiction, non-fiction, technical, business-oriented, or whatever as the goal was to always be absorbing and digesting new ideas and information, even just for fun. At Clarify.io, we had a bi-weekly bookclub based on the same idea. I should note that I was heavy on fiction this […]