Please don't kill me but please explain API's...?

vaaaska

Sorry, I've been watching what Flickr has been doing with their API stuff and it seems pretty incredible. I think I understand the idea - the API provides the means for others to use their tools - but is that right?

Are API's necessarily functioned by XML or is Flickrs just one scenario?

Also, I'd be curious if anybody knows of anything out there that discusses just how an API standard is developed for a site. I've been unable to really find any articles that dealve too deeply into this.

planetsim

Basically API is just that an Application Protocol Interface.

Its the means from one thing to talk to another, this is not just XML windows has an API (win32 API), which allows languages such a c/c++, .net etc use built in windows functions such as the GUIs, services etc.

You may try google on your last bit because I am not sure how an API to work with many different things would work from a software point of view. The web however is much different, well now anyway. You have XML which has bought a lot of new XML technologies, SOAP, RSS etc

I dont think there really is an API standard to be honest but I can be corrected cant I :glare:, mainly it comes down to developers and planning how the API will work what the Application/User/Tool will be able to use.

piersk

As far as I can gather (please feel free to prove me wrong), a good example of a APIs is the Java programming language.

Would I be wrong is saying that an API is (basically) another name for a library?

bubblenut

Wicked Wikipedia

Shrike

An API is just the way to access something. If I make a PHP class, with 1 method, that method represents the classes' API.

The acronym means Application Programming Interface doesn't it? 🙂

piersk

Originally posted by Shrike
The acronym means Application Programming Interface doesn't it? 🙂

<pedant>
It's an abreviation. An acronym is an abreviation that you can say, like RAM
</pedant>

Shrike

API, pronounced Apee 😃

vaaaska

Ah yes, now I understand a little more (until the next time when I don't understand anymore). 😉

How can I forget to look up stuff on Wikipedia - great source.

So, if a programmer creates a set of, let's call them generic functions, which others can access via whatever method to return some $foo - that's an API. That seems pretty straightforward.

I guess where I see this as unsafe (where the web is concerned) is let's say that a user has a unique ID (like on Flickr)...an evil person could use another persons ID for their own 'evil' purposes. I suppose a password or a cookie could alleviate this problem, but there's only so much safety in that.

Anyways, what's going on over at Flickr is quite fascinating - at least to me.

http://www.flickr.com/services/api/

Thanks for the info too.

planetsim

Originally posted by Shrike
An API is just the way to access something. If I make a PHP class, with 1 method, that method represents the classes' API.

The acronym means Application Programming Interface doesn't it? 🙂

Yes you got me there :glare:

Weedpacket

Originally posted by vaaaska
How can I forget to look up stuff on Wikipedia - great source.

For programming and suchlike computing terminology, andother good one is FOLDOC. (E.g., http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=API&action=Search, which - to make things easy - also links to Wikipedia!)