Blog

The Next Generation of API Discovery

by Kin Lane on 01/24/2013

For the last seven years, when you wanted to find an API you went to ProgrammableWeb. It has been the definitive way to discover new APIs, and responsible for all the buzz in the space that has gotten the industry to where it is. Now that ProgrammableWeb is at 8400 APIs in its directory, and adding 50-100 each week, it will continue to get even more difficult to discover APIs. Even for someone like me who has looked at thousands of APIs, it can be very difficult and time consuming to find the API or APIs you are looking for. In 2013 there are even more ways to find APIs, new approaches that are looking to define the next generation of API discovery and consumption. Currently I’m tracking on 4 API directories in addition to ProgrammableWeb: APIhub - APIhub is the best way to publish, discover and consume APIs. Search our database or browse through our most popular APIs APIs. io - APIS.... read more.

Tags: APIhub, APIs.io, Directory, Discovery, Exicon, Mashape, ProgrammableWeb, Rankings

Google Goes All In With Github, You Should Too With Your API

by Kin Lane on 01/24/2013

Google is migrating samples and tools for App Engine, BigQuery, Compute Engine, Cloud SQL, and Cloud Storage to a new Github account, they are calling the Google Cloud Platform. Google is going all in with its use of Github, something I'm encouraging API owners to do. They are working to manage all of their essential API tools there like their start projects, which show developers how to get started with Google APIs as well as other helper tools like the OAuth 2. 0 Helper, that helps developers be successful. Github provides a lot of benefit beyond the obvious aspect of open sourcing your code. Google is actively engaging with developers using Github alongside all of these open source projects. If you think about it, this offers a more compelling way to engage with API developers beyond forums. On forums you end up with a lot of general, sometimes senseless questions--Github anchors questions or issues and pull requests around actual code libraries, SDKs, starter kits and other integration areas. Github provides potentially more meaningful actions to occur between you and your developer community, beyond making code more accessible and openly licensed.... read more.

Tags: GitHub, Google

Estimating the Number of Non-Public APIs

by Peter Gruenbaum on 01/24/2013

This post comes from the SDK Bridge newsletter. I find so much value from what Peter and Jonathan do over at SDK Bridge, I always have to post their newsletter here and share with all of you. ProgrammableWeb is known for publishing the number of public APIs in its directory, and they regularly present an impressive graph that shows how this number has increased exponentially over time. However, not all APIs are public, and ProgrammableWeb is not able to obtain information on how many non-public APIs exist. SDK Bridge writes API documentation as a service, and many of our customers have us document their non-public APIs. That puts us in a unique position to be able to estimate what percentage of APIs is public compared to non-public. Definitions What exactly is a non-public API? For the purposes of this article, let's define a few terms. Public API. A public API is an API where the documentation is freely available on the Web. Using the API may require registering and paying a fee. Partner API.... read more.

Tags: Internal APIs, Peter Gruenbaum, ProgrammableWeb, SDK Bridge

Traffic and Weather Now Available on API Evangelist

by Kin Lane on 01/24/2013

I just added a new feature to the right hand menu, for the podcast Traffic and Weather, a podcast about APIs and the cloud from John Sheehan (@johnsheehan) and Steve Marx (@smarx). I’m big podcast fan, and I"m always looking for something I can listen to in the background while I’m coding or writing stories. Traffic and Weather is great for this. The podcast dives into various topics ranging from Webhooks to oAuth, but keeps things light, where I think even non-technical folks can get up to speed on the latest in the space. John and Steve make things very informative, while being friendly and keeping it conversational. I added a widget to my right hand menu, which will always pull the latest episode from Traffic and Weather. You can also click on the logo to go directly to their site.... read more.

Tags: John Sheehan, podcast, Steve Marx, Traffic and Weather

Hacker Storytelling

by Kin Lane on 01/23/2013

I love to write. My girlfriend has really help me kindle this passion. Thank you @audreywatters. After 2. 5 years of telling stories on API Evangelist, I’ve gotten pretty good at organizing my ideas, and putting out stories that showcase the best (and worst) from the Business of APIs. I’ve gotten so efficient at it in 2012, I even launched API Voice which is dedicated to the politics of APIs, the API Stack which is dedicated to top APIs and Hack Weekends which is all about hackathons. When I meet people in the real world, I often hear, “You sure blog a lot, I see like 5 posts a day coming from you! ” I do write a lot, but it comes in waves. I tend to write a lot of stories all at once, pumping out 15-20 pieces and then I trickle them out across the appropriate domain over the next couple days. In 2013, I’m going to get even more efficient with my storytelling, with an evolved approach I’m calling Hacker Storytelling. The process is based upon dwhat I already do, but uses a new blend of: Pages - HTML, CSS and text that frames a site, project or research Blogs - Chronological blog posts that walk through a project or research Presentations - Deck.... read more.

Tags: Deck.js, GitHub, Hacker Storytelling, Jekyll, Mustache Templates

Google Drive SDK Early Access Program

by Kin Lane on 01/23/2013

Google has an SDK early access program setup for the Google Drive platform, and is inviting a select group of dedicated Google Drive developers to join the program. Giving them access to upcoming Google Drive SDK features and the opportunity to provide feedback. Google isn't accepting everyone--they will be screening applicants based upon the type and quality of the application, number of users, and ability to implement and provide feedback on new features as they're made available. An early access program seems like a good idea for API owners. It gives you the chance to test out your alpha and beta APIs, client libraries, SDK's with a controlled audience, before you release them out into the wild. With the number of developers Google has, I don't think it will be a problem getting developers to sign up. But it seems like something you could even pay developers for, if you have a shortage of good developers in your API ecosystem.... read more.

Tags: Beta, Early Access, Google Drive, Incentive, SDK

Visualizing Hackathons in 2012

by Kin Lane on 01/23/2013

Hackathons have been going on for quite a few years now, in Silicon Valley circles. But in 2012 hackathons started going mainstream around the globe, getting a lot of attention because of organizers like Twilio, Sendgrid, AT&T, AngelHack, to name just a few. For those that are new to the hackathon space, these events are not intended to perform illegal activities around computer networks. Software developers widely see hacking as a quick and dirty programmatic solution to a problem. Hackathons are NOT about gaining access to other networks, which is a definition widely publicized by the media and hollywood. Among the developer community, it is meant to be a positive term that drives innovation among developers. While many hackathons are startup focused, we are seeing them emerge in other verticals like healthcare, education, environment and robotics. People are seeing hackathons as temporary venues for innovation and R&D as well as potential environments for talent acquisition.... read more.

Tags: Guide, Hack days, Hackathons, Infographics, Singly

API Strategy & Practice Conference in New York is SOLD OUT!!

by Kin Lane on 01/21/2013

It is 30 days until the API Strategy & Practice conference in New York City, February 21st and 22nd, and the event is now sold out! The event will be a 275 person conference focused on discussing the API industry. Since the event was postponed after Hurricane Sandy, the demand to get in and speak was overwhelming and conference tickets didn’t last long either. We were able to keep almost all the original session lineup while make a couple changes and squeezing in a couple new speakers, where possible. I am really pleased with how the event has come together. We have an amazing lineup and from looking at the attendee list, it looks like it will be a diverse groups of folks in attendance, discussing APIs.... read more.

Tags: API Strategy, New York City

WSO2 Now Has API Reporting With Google Analytics

by Kin Lane on 01/21/2013

WSO2's open source API management platform for creating, managing, consuming and monitoring APIs, now has the ability to track API usage through Google Analytics. Since APIs are deployed using HTTP, the same transport we are using for websites, it makes sense that we should be able to see statistics for both our websites and APIs, side-by-side using Google Analytics. After creating a new profile for your API in Google Analytics you can put the tracking code into your WSO2 API Management interface and begin seeing real-time or standard (24 hour) reporting on API traffic in the Google Analytics interface. Since Google Analytics has an API and widgets, you will be able to use this data easily in other reports or system integrations that may need access to your API usage data. It is great to see innovation around API analytics and reporting, beyond the standard dashboards we've seen from most providers. I'd like to see more stories and scripts to help automate API reporting using Google Analytics, StatsD and Graphite or platforms like Mixpanel.... read more.

Tags: Analytics, Google Analytics, Reporting, WSO2

Digital Strategy: 20 Federal Agencies, 76 data API and 75 Mobile API Initiatives

by Kin Lane on 01/19/2013

It has been a while since I provided an update on the White House Digital Strategy. I monitor the progress of federal agencies participation programmatically, using JSON reports published by each agency at the agencies domain, /digitalstrategy. After running the script today, I notice 20 federal agencies with active footprints. There are about five more, but there are issues with the JSON version of their digital stratgies--I really want to focus on the programmatic value. So, across these 20 agencies I find 76 data API initiatives and 75 mobile API projects. To bring you up to speed, there are two specific milestones in the Digital Government Strategy that specifically address API deployment: 2. 2 (Data) - Make high-value data and content in at least existing two major customer-facing systems available through web APIs, apply metadata tagging and publish a plan to transition additional high-value systems 7.... read more.

Tags: Data, Digital Strategy, Mobile