Day 10 — API Reality Check

Day 10 was the point where tutorials stopped holding my hand. I worked with JamBase and TheSportsDB APIs, built and refactored Next.js route handlers, and dealt with endpoints that didn’t behave the way I expected. I ran into incomplete data, confusing parameters, environment variables that worked locally but failed on deploy, and APIs that only returned one game when I needed a full schedule. Instead of asking what the right code was, I started inspecting raw responses, logging keys, reshaping data, and adjusting assumptions. This was frustrating — and also the first time I really felt like a developer. I didn’t just use APIs. I learned what they actually are: inconsistent, opinionated, and something you have to adapt to.