# request-response-john-kodumal
Source: https://speakeasy.com/blog/request-response-john-kodumal


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**[John Kodumal](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kodumal/)** is the co-founder and former CTO of **[LaunchDarkly](https://launchdarkly.com/)**. At LaunchDarkly, he created the feature flagging category and scaled the business to over 5000 customers. On the first episode of Request // Response, he joined us to discuss:

- The power of separating deployment from release
- How LD pioneered the use of server-sent events, long before it became the tech of choice for LLMs.
- The importance of traversability in API design.
- How the expectations for API design have evolved over time.
- What defines a great Developer Experience.

### Listen on

[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/request-response/id1801805306?i=1000698928723) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/29i1yj8mVO6PiCl4Hizll3?si=e89864f088e644bb)

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## Show Notes

[00:00:00] **Introduction**

- Sagar welcomes John Kodumal to the podcast.
- John's background as co-founder and former CTO of LaunchDarkly.

[00:00:28] **What is LaunchDarkly?**

- LaunchDarkly's role in separating deployment from release.
- The impact of fine-grained feature flag controls.
- Benefits: safer rollouts, experimentation, controlled beta releases.

[00:02:18] **Pre-LaunchDarkly Era**

- How companies previously handled feature releases.
- Homegrown tools and their limitations.
- Inspiration from early DevOps talks, including Flickr's feature flagging.

[00:05:26] **LaunchDarkly's API and SDK Focus**

- The importance of embedding into the software development lifecycle.
- Learning from Atlassian's approach to API-driven development.
- Early investment in API design and OpenAPI specifications.

[00:10:37] **Technical Deep Dive: SSE and Feature Flags**

- Use of Server-Sent Events (SSE) for real-time feature flagging.
- Challenges with existing SSE open-source libraries.
- Ensuring consistency across distributed systems.

[00:14:23] **The Evolution of API Expectations**

- Increased demand for standardized, high-quality APIs.
- Importance of pagination, rate limiting, and caching.
- Growing role of OpenAPI specifications in modern API development.

[00:19:26] **Traversability and Developer Experience**

- APIs as traversable maps for both humans and machines.
- Comparison to REST principles and the Fielding Thesis.
- How great APIs lower integration barriers for developers and AI agents.

[00:22:40] **What Defines Great Developer Experience?**

- Macro and micro-scale perspectives on DevEx.
- Anticipating user needs and providing escape hatches.
- Importance of small but impactful UX details.

[00:26:23] **Closing Thoughts**

- The significance of developer experience in building tools.
- How LaunchDarkly has influenced modern software development.

### More John Kodumal Quotes From The Discussion

1. **Feature Flags Are Powerful**

"A lot of people look at just that idea of feature flags, and they think that it's small, and they're shocked that there's a multi billion dollar company that does feature flags. But it's not about feature flags. It's about all the changes to the software development lifecycle that feature flags enable"

2. **Traversability Over Endpoints**

"Nothing should be an endpoint. Everything should be traversable. If you have an endpoint, it's broken."

3. **Working With The Complexity of Developer Needs**

"In order to fit into someone's SDLC you have to respect the differences that make their software development practices unique---you have to work with them, not force a one-size-fits-all solution."

### Referenced

- [Flickr DevOps Talk on Feature Flagging 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOe18KhtT4)
- [OpenAPI Specification](https://spec.openapis.org/#specifications)

Production by [Shapeshift](https://shapeshift.so).

For inquiries about guesting on Request // Response, email [samantha.wen@speakeasy.com](mailto:samantha.wen@speakeasy.com).