API Management and SQuaRE: A Comprehensive Overview from the Practitioners’ Standpoint

In recent years, APIs have become fundamental components of software ecosystems, with organizations increasingly integrating software applications to exchange complex digital assets. Yet, the management of APIs presents considerable challenges, with companies facing numerous quality-related issues. Our objective is to understand how practitioners perceive the quality traits associated with API management requirements. To accomplish this, we conducted a methodical survey targeting professional developers, system administrators, and software functional analysts located in Rio Gallegos City, Argentina. We adopted the ISO/IEC 25010 standard as our framework. Survey questions were crafted around the fundamental API management capabilities outlined in contemporary literature, and their alignment with the ISO/IEC 25010 quality dimensions. A descriptive analysis of the 136 addressed topics unveiled Functional Suitability and Security as the key quality characteristics, providing valuable insights for future research.