NYC BAPI 2011 Speaker Presentation

1. Building a developer community from scratch
Business of APIs - October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 11

2. Building a hacker community in the US
• Andrew Mager
• @mager, @SpotifyPlatform
• Moved to Brooklyn 1 month ago from San Francisco
• Languages of choice:Python, Ruby, HTML5, CSS, Javascript
Tuesday, October 18, 11

3. API best practices
Assume your users know nothing about APIs.
When working with cloud APIs, explain what the cloud is. Give high level overview of
REST, HTTP.
Be clear about what’s supported and what is not.
Explain how a user authenticates with your API.
Talk about what services your API plays nicely with.
Be open about upcoming projects and attentive to feedback. Relay that feedback to
your team.
Have an internal FAQ that you can constantly reference, update, and learn from.
Build social accounts that are clearly focused at developers: @SimpleGeoAPI,
@SpotifyPlatform.
Tuesday, October 18, 11

4. The art of the demo
Show your users how to use your API. Give them real-world examples.
Apigee Console - https://apigee.com/console/simplegeo
Mashery I/O Docs - http://spotify-iodocs-565650870.us-
east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/
Tuesday, October 18, 11

5. Have a really badass developer website
https://dev.twitter.com/
http://developers.facebook.com/
http://developer.apple.com/
Build an outline of your website that includes latest blog posts, commits from
Github, Tweets, upcoming events, tutorials, and documentation.
Get a technical editor.
Merge & showcase community code.
Tuesday, October 18, 11

6. Find great examples of apps built using your API
There are dozens of apps and utilities using the Spotify Platform.
• Spotibot - playlist generator
• Spotify Chrome extension - Scan webpages for Spotify content
• The Mac Box - Use Mac IR remote to control Spotify
• spo.tl - A Spotify URL shortener
• Fuck Yeah Spotify - Top tweeted Spotify albums
• EchoFi - Give an artist and it will play songs you might like on Spotify
• FreshSpotify - Emails you when new music comes out from your
favorite bands
• Stalkify - Give it a Last.fm username and it will give you Spotify links
for all of your favorite music
• Spotify Applescripts - Control playback with custom Applescripts/
Tuesday, October 18, 11

7. Follow @SpotifyPlatform
Tuesday, October 18, 11