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intermediatePhase ·

Pagination

Design pagination for list endpoints.

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Pagination Design

Collection Response

{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 20,
    "total": 150,
    "totalPages": 8
  }
}

Cursor-Based

{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "nextCursor": "abc123",
    "hasMore": true
  }
}

Key Points

  • Understanding API Design: Pagination is essential for production systems
  • Always consider scalability and maintainability
  • Test thoroughly before deploying to production
  • Monitor performance and set up alerting

Common Patterns

  1. Validation: Always validate input at the boundary
  2. Error Handling: Use structured error responses
  3. Logging: Log key events for debugging
  4. Testing: Unit, integration, and load tests
  5. Documentation: Keep docs updated with code changes

API Best Practices

Design Principles

  • Use nouns, not verbs
  • Plural resource names
  • Consistent naming conventions
  • Proper HTTP status codes

Versioning

  • URI versioning (/v1/resource)
  • Header versioning
  • Deprecation policy

Documentation

  • OpenAPI/Swagger specs
  • Request/Response examples
  • Error code documentation
  • Rate limit documentation

Key Points

  • Understanding API Design: Pagination is essential for production systems
  • Always consider scalability and maintainability
  • Test thoroughly before deploying to production
  • Monitor performance and set up alerting

Common Patterns

  1. Validation: Always validate input at the boundary
  2. Error Handling: Use structured error responses
  3. Logging: Log key events for debugging
  4. Testing: Unit, integration, and load tests
  5. Documentation: Keep docs updated with code changes

Practice Problems

0/3solved
Implement API Design: Pagination

Design and implement a solution for API Design: Pagination in a backend system. Consider scalability, error handling, and production readiness.

Solution
// API Design: Pagination implementation
// Key aspects: validation, error handling, logging, testing

public class APIDesignPagination {
    // Production-ready implementation
}
API Design: Pagination Edge Cases

Identify and handle edge cases for API Design: Pagination. What happens under high load, with invalid input, or during failures?

Solution
// Edge case handling:
// 1. Null/empty input -> validation
// 2. High load -> rate limiting, queuing
// 3. Failures -> retries, circuit breaker
// 4. Concurrent access -> locks, idempotency
API Design: Pagination Testing Strategy

Write a testing strategy for API Design: Pagination. Include unit tests, integration tests, and performance tests.

Solution
// Test plan:
// - Unit: 80% coverage target
// - Integration: API contracts
// - Performance: latency, throughput
// - Chaos: failure injection

Quiz

1. Cursor-based pagination best for?

Question 1 options

2. Collection response includes?

Question 2 options

3. What is the primary purpose of API Design: Pagination?

Question 3 options

4. What is a common mistake when implementing API Design: Pagination?

Question 4 options

Flashcards

Question

Cursor-based best for?

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Answer

Large datasets, real-time feeds

Question

Collection response?

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Answer

Data + pagination metadata

Question

What is API Design: Pagination?

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Answer

API Design: Pagination is a key concept in backend development.

Question

When to use API Design: Pagination?

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Answer

Use API Design: Pagination when building production systems that require reliability, scalability, and maintainability.

Question

API Design: Pagination best practices

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Answer

Follow SOLID principles, write clean code, test thoroughly, document decisions, and monitor in production.

Revision Notes

Key Takeaways

  • 1.Include pagination metadata in collection responses
  • 2.Cursor-based for large datasets
  • 3.Offset for admin panels
  • 4.Always support pagination on collections

Interview Tips

  • •Design pagination
  • •Choose type based on use case

Cheat Sheet

Pagination

  • Offset: ?page=2&limit=20
  • Cursor: ?cursor=abc&hasMore=true
  • Include: pagination metadata
  • Large data: cursor-based