I must agree with the Flickr fans.
In my opinion if it's;
RESTian
Standardised
Well documented
Choice of output formats (JSON, YAML, XML etc.)
An open wiki to supplement the docs
It'll do for me.
Will the BBC require developer keys or authentication?.
Gareth Rodger
W: http://www.garethrodger.com
E: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 6 Dec 2006, at 12:58, Neil Roberts wrote:
>>which API's have you used which were a joy to use and why?
I really like the flickr because they offer a simple api for non-
techies in the form of the badge, which even my dad can use (this
is a man they type with one finger and that's not one finger on
each hand but just one finger).
This makes the content really accessible which is important.
And on the other end of the spectrum they offer api's that for the
true developer that allow you to achieve things like this
http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/06/08/index4a_page2.html
For me this is awesome becuse it not only shows their content up in
a good light.
It promotes flickr and can inform their service development; all
things that I think backstage is trying to do for the BBC.
Important things that I have found useful but may not fall into the
realm of api for some people is:
For the novice:
Restful/guessable/hackable URLs
A range of simple standard RSS feeds
Examples and easy to use interfaces eg: flickr badge
For the not so novice:
Parameterised RSS feeds
HTTP implemention is always good but the technology in my opinion
should be the one that can be used by the most people.
Good documentation and often the best documentation is not found on
the providers site but on people's blogs, so making the
documentation an open wiki would help.
neil
On 12/6/06, Mr I Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Right Calm down everyone! :)
Lets put the debate on hold for now (although I was tempted to
throw in
a line about the GPL3 drafts). I don't know about everyone else, but I
personally think this could make a good podcast if I got a few of
you in
a room together.
Anyway,
Its almost 2007 and I wanted to ask a question to the list.
One of the things you really want more of, is more BBC API's. Well
were
working on that but I wanted to ask which API's have you used which
were
a joy to use and why?
Is the documentation, API naming, structuring, amount of data given
away
or something else?
For example, for me Flickr's API is great but I love the security of
Del.icio.us. The documentation on Flickr is also very easy to
follow and
understand while the ability to run XSL serverside on Amazon's servers
has been useful. Google Data/Base is very interesting being just ATOM
based and I can certainly see more APIs using ATOM as a base result
response in the future.
Don't worry guys we can pick up the Free Software debate later...
Ian Forrester | backstage.bbc.co.uk | cubicgarden.com
Laurence Samuels wrote:
> You explained these a long time ago, and you kept on repeating what
> did not amount to new knowledge. I hope you wont reply to this
email.
> If you do, I wont reply to the list, I might reply to you privately.
>
> L
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