How API Pagination Design Affects Performance and Developer Experience

Episode 24 of The Developer Tools Podcast explores how API pagination design directly impacts both backend performance and frontend developer experience. Lucas and Luna break down the trade-offs between offset-based and cursor-based pagination, using real-world examples from GitHub and Twitter's APIs. They discuss why cursor-based pagination is often preferred for large datasets, how inconsistent pagination can break client code, and what developers should consider when choosing a strategy. The episode also covers common pitfalls like unstable ordering and the hidden costs of deep offsets. Specific data: GitHub's API defaults to 30 results per page with cursor-based pagination; Twitter's deprecated v1.1 API used offset-based pagination, leading to performance issues for high-volume queries. Hosts also touch on pagination's impact on mobile apps and GraphQL. A concise episode for engineers designing or consuming APIs. #API #Pagination #CursorBased #OffsetBased #DeveloperExperience #Performance #GitHub #Twitter #GraphQL #Backend #Frontend #APIArchitecture #WebDev #SoftwareEngineering #TechPodcast #Business #BusinessAndTechnology #FexingoBusiness Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo