Programming coldfusion with APIs

Programming with APIs Nick Tong http://TalkWebSolutions.co.uk http://succor.co.uk Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5

Agenda
Who the hell is this guy?
What are APIs?
So what?
Mash ups
Connecting to APIs
Examples of APIs
Reliability
Where is this all heading?

Who the hell are you?
CF developer for 7 years
Blogger for over 1 year
Wanna be extreme dude…
You decide!

API?
Abbreviation of A pplication P rogram I nterface , a set of routines , protocols , and tools for building software applications .
A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer simply puts the blocks together.
APIs define the complete methods by which a programmer can access and control a given system.

So what!
The Web of documents has morphed into a Web of data. We are no longer just looking to the same old sources for information. Now we’re looking to a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways.
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/web_2_for_designers/

Ben Forsaith

Why is this a good idea? Application

Application B Application C Application A

Application A Application C Application B

Allows rule implementation
Fix problems easier
Improve scalability

Working with APIs
Take data (or content) aka INFORMATION
from one or several locations
and present them as you see fit!
What does this bring?
Separation of concerns
Information Vs Layout
http://flickr.com/photos/b4r7/14001542/

http://www.programmableweb.com

Some examples

Some examples cont…

Some examples cont… http://flickr.com/photos/gisuser/62266454/ Alertdude Google Mashup maps Florida sexual offenders

Why not?
Associate ID required
Non Commercial use
Non competition clause
Plus others
Take the BBC for example, we pay for it then we’re are only allowed to use a restricted subset!

How do we get the data?
Web services
REST ( RE presentational S tate T ransfer)
SOAP ( S imple O bject A ccess P rotocol)
XML-RPC
JSON
Flash Remoting

REST vs SOAP
REST
Messages are represented in plain XML
HTTP is used for the transfer protocol
HTTP verbs are used for access/manipulation commands
URIs are used to uniquely identify resources in message
HTTP authentication provides security
There is no formal method for expressing the interface contract
SOAP
Messages are represented in a standardized XML SOAP "envelope"
Can be bound to various protocols including HTTP and SMTP
Access to and manipulation of data are application specific
Security is not described by SOAP and is to be provided by the developer
XML schemas are used to define the contract between client and service
http://res.sys-con.com/story/apr05/79282/fig1.jpg http://res.sys-con.com/story/apr05/79282/fig2.jpg

http://res.sys-con.com/story/apr05/79282/table1.jpg

I’m A RESTafarian http://flickr.com/photos/pantagrapher/17089865/

Okay show me the good stuff!
Lets look as some code:
Simple Example
Yahoo APIs

But what about reliability?
Use Meta APIs
i.e. Mapstraction
Cache data – only call new data if its required
Their success is through your success

Sum things up already!
APIs are a great way to make content available to multiple applications
Upgrades and saleability to be more manageable
Separation of concerns
Rapid development
Grows applications
Makes large site possible
Exciting via mash ups
Fun

One last thing Microformats
Microformat types
People and Organizations
hCard
Calendars and Events
hCalendar
Opinions, Ratings and Reviews
VoteLinks , hReview
Tags, Keywords, Categories
rel-tag
Lists and Outlines
XOXO
Social Networks
XFN
Licenses:
rel-license
What are microformats? D esigned for humans first and machines second, microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards.

Credits
Thanks to
Simon Willison
Paul Hammond
Aral Balkan
http://www.programmableweb.com
http://res.sys-con.com
Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5

Questions?
[email_address]
http://succor.co.uk
http://talkwebsolutions.co.uk
Projects
http://cfFrameworks.com – Coldfusion frameworks information site.
http://wapurl.co.uk – short mobile urls

Programming coldfusion with APIs

by Nick Tong

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 13

Statistics

Programming coldfusion with APIs Presentation Transcript

http://www.slideshare.net	7
http://www.succor.co.uk	5
http://succor.co.uk	1