Swagger
Swagger is a set of open-source tools for designing, building, documenting, and consuming RESTful APIs. It provides a specification called the OpenAPI Specification (formerly Swagger Specification) that defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to RESTful APIs, enabling both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of a service without access to source code or documentation. The Swagger ecosystem includes tools like Swagger UI for interactive API documentation, Swagger Editor for designing APIs, and Swagger Codegen for generating client SDKs and server stubs.
Developers should learn and use Swagger when building or consuming RESTful APIs to ensure consistency, improve collaboration between frontend and backend teams, and automate documentation and code generation. It is particularly valuable in microservices architectures, API-first development approaches, and projects requiring clear API contracts, as it reduces manual errors, speeds up development cycles, and enhances API discoverability for internal or external consumers.