Working with Webhooks

We use webhooks to have our applications exchange data as soon as it happens, rather than polling using APIs. This session covers creating, consuming and deploying webhooks in a modern, microservices world.

In an increasingly connected world, APIs are key to great tools and effective workflows. What is better than an API? A webhook of course! Webhooks are a key building block of a modern application, allowing systems to exchange data in response to events.

This session gives examples of webhooks currently in use “in the wild”, and examines both when a webhook is useful and the internal design and structuring of webhook payloads. We’ll discuss how to work with webhooks in a scalable way regardless of technology stack; how to recieve and process incoming webhooks from an external system and how to design and publish your own for use by partners or consumers. Recommended for anyone wanting to teach their applications to play nicely with others.

I’ve loved APIs for a long time, and webhooks really are one step better. These techniques enable developers to integrate real-time-ish applications such as slack bots and IoT functionality - I think all developers could do with a little bit more expertise and this talk has been going down well at other events.