An application programming interface (API) is the specification for which software is meant to be used by other software.
0
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1answer
46 views
REST API internal directory structure and RewriteEngine
I'm building a REST API. I don't want to have real folders in my directory structure, but I'm not quite sure what to use else. My REST API uses paths like this:
...
0
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1answer
405 views
MVC or Extract Service Layer
we have an application that is built with .Net MVC. We are now tasked with exposing API's to third parties. Members on our team want to just continue down our current path and just use more ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
Good public API for use in demos and documentation?
I have created a utility library and open sourced it on Github, and I'd like to document the HTTP utilities. I created this around some apps I've developed, but none of the APIs I use are for public ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
HG: fork web app project to separate API code from app code
I have a web app thats been in active development for about 8 months now and its becoming apparent that the project has a need to maintain a separation between app specific code and our OO Javascript ...
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votes
0answers
47 views
Need to find stocks data with API for Linux [closed]
We are developing a series of long term stock investment programs but we're having a huge problem getting data at anything like a reasonable price. Most data is for Windows. We need data for a ...
-1
votes
0answers
23 views
Api Automation Layer For Single Instance Application
As part of application refactor I would like to add automation layer to it.
My vision is very close to the MS Office automation layer (Excel automation) - ability to perform application action using ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
How to handle many arguments in an API wrapper?
I'm writing a PHP API wrapper for a third party API. I want to make all the methods consistent, but I'm not sure how to handle the number of arguments some API routes accept. One API request accepts ...
3
votes
7answers
2k views
How do I search the Java API? [closed]
Since the Java API pages have no search function, at least not one that I see, how do I find out what methods are in which packages?
-1
votes
0answers
66 views
List of public APIs [closed]
Can anyone recommend a site that lists public APIs? I recently learned about JSON and APIs and recently found Twitter's and Reddit's APIs and I'm really fascinated about them. Thanks in advance.
4
votes
2answers
104 views
Custom functions in a REST API
Looking at two of our entities Company and Address. A company has a billingAddress and a profileAddress.
I'm unsure of how to implement a function to set the billing address versus the profile. Here ...
1
vote
1answer
103 views
Should I store UK postcode data in my database
I am building a website for a UK audience that will utilise location data to offer search results based on a desired location or home address.
I have a large list of UK postcodes and geographic ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
RESTFul: state changing actions
I'am planning to build RESTfull API but there are some architectural questions that are creating some problems in my head. Adding backend bussiness logic to clients is option that I would like to ...
5
votes
1answer
164 views
Asynchronously returning a hierarchal data using .NET TPL… what should my return object “look” like?
I want to use the .NET TPL to asynchronously do a DIR /S and search each subdirectory on a hard drive, and want to search for a word in each file... what should my API look like?
In this scenario I ...
3
votes
7answers
2k views
What is the best way to remember Java APIs? [duplicate]
I have been doing Java for nearly a year now and I have difficulty remembering Java APIs and method names. What is the best way to remember them?
7
votes
1answer
459 views
What API design for storing generic data in a more specific format?
for In the project I am working on we send messages about widgets over message queues, serializing them onto the queues as XML. The XML schema contains tags for properties that are common to all types ...
2
votes
1answer
211 views
How to count hits in an HTTP API without bogging down the DB
I'm building an API and want to count hits for each user. It's a HTTP API implemented in Python. I could keep the count in a database (using PostGreSQL) but it'll be a very busy API, so I don't want ...
-1
votes
1answer
77 views
Data aggregation like polyvore.com [closed]
I'm creating a website that is going to aggregate women shoes from across the web into one website. Kinda like polyvore.com does with all their products but mine is only going to be shoes. Which ...
2
votes
2answers
136 views
RESTful URI's, Creating a new noun/uri or add a queryparameter
I have a Person class with a one to many relationship to Employment. A Person in the CRM can have multiple Employments (historic data).
My current REST URI for this class looks like this:
...
5
votes
2answers
524 views
Is HTTPS enough to avoid replay attacks?
I am exposing a few REST methods on a server for an mobile app.
I would like to avoid that users can sniff how HTTP methods are built (from the mobile app) and then send them again to the server. ...
3
votes
3answers
232 views
How can I ensure a method is called only once when using a API?
In general, if I am using an API whose methods have side-effects that I only want to occur once, how can I guarantee that my own application only calls them once even if an error occurs before it can ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Web service for pulling up-to-date payroll tax information?
Are there any web services (json or xml) in which you can input demographic information about an employee and get back the tax rate that they are to be taxed at a federal, state, and local level?
1
vote
0answers
35 views
Listing of ecommerce Public API [closed]
What are some of the useful e-commerce public API for an application developer to leverage? Few examples would be Twitter API for performing twitter interaction, USPS API for tracking and delivery ...
61
votes
10answers
4k views
What's the difference between an API and an SDK?
I was looking through various APIs and SDKs, when I realized that I couldn't really tell the difference between something called an API and something called an SDK. Both of them are, conceptually, a ...
0
votes
2answers
140 views
How does API design differ from general web application development design? [duplicate]
If I was working on a web application designing and writing an API how does that differ from a general web application development?
What things would I need to consider and take into account? Are ...
2
votes
2answers
210 views
Workflow for building a RESTful API
I am building a RESTful API, and so far, to make sure that my resources work as I need them to, I am using a REST client called Postman. This makes it easy for me to store routes and quickly make ...
3
votes
2answers
217 views
How can you provide a public writeable API and not get spammed?
So say you had a site like StackExchange. Now imagine you created a machine-writeable API capable of posting questions and comments and doing everything your browser can do.
Of course, about 5 ...
5
votes
2answers
142 views
Web API URI Schema Design
I'm in the middle of designing an API for a very basic flashcard application for learning purposes and I'm wondering if you all think there can be any improvements.
In the app, a Folder contains ...
4
votes
2answers
176 views
Requiring Explicit Null Reference Handling
One of the problems I have with null references is that they may not be exceptional. In my current position, there are few requirements and you are lucky if conventions are followed. This means being ...
22
votes
1answer
605 views
Why have hardware-accelerated vector graphics not taken off?
I'm working on an app that involves real-time manipulation of vector paths at 60fps, and I'm very surprised by how little information there is on the subject. At first, I tried to implement my idea ...
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votes
0answers
45 views
Extracting data point locations from a postscript/pdf plot [closed]
There are a number of tools available for manually extracting the x/y coordinates of points in a data plot, such as WebPlotDigitizer and digitize.
They work well when there are only a few ...
2
votes
2answers
83 views
What endpoints should I provide, if any, to permit connectivity testing for my web services?
What endpoints should I provide, if any, to permit connectivity / availability testing for my web services / Web API?
TL;DR
I am developing both the server and client in an enterprise environment. ...
2
votes
0answers
92 views
design practice for business layer when supporting API versioning
Is there any design pattern or practice recommended for business layer when dealing with multiple API version.
For example, I have something like this.
http://site.com/blogs/v1/?count=10
which ...
9
votes
3answers
649 views
Joda Time vs Java Time
Although Joda is feature rich and more sophisticated than standard Java time, it may not always be the best thing to use. How do I decide if I should use Joda Time or Java Time in any Java code?
Is ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
Would it be possible to publish my code on an official site with a third-party library?
I'm building a rather large and extensive wrapper in Delphi for an email system called Mandrill. There are wrappers for this API in many other languages, but not for Delphi. So, I'm hoping to produce ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Designing a loosely coupled app -> stored proc interface for PostgreSQL. A couple of questions
I am in the middle of designing a next generation database access class for one of the programs I am building. We use PostgreSQL exclusively.
Our current approach is procedural (largely inspired ...
4
votes
6answers
716 views
Testing a REST client against a REST Server. How to do fixtures?
When writing unit tests, it's common to use fixtures: little testable data, so we can say:
1. Get all clients should include Willy Wonka.
2. Delete client 3, and now get clients should not include ...
1
vote
2answers
126 views
Managing Alerts in Web Application Using RESTful API
I have designed a RESTful API and I am now working on creating a web application to use the service.
One thing I am struggling with is how to manage alerts in the web application (similar to the ...
19
votes
8answers
1k views
“Public APIs are forever: Only one chance to get it right”?
In an OS book I just read that, "Public APIs are forever: Only one chance to get it right". Is it true? Is it applicable only in APIs of Operating Systems or other APIs too? For example, will this be ...
11
votes
4answers
411 views
Using natural language grammar in fluent API
I'm tinkering with a query abstraction over WebSQL/Phonegap Database API, and I find myself both drawn to, and doubtful of, defining a fluent API that mimics the use of natural English language ...
1
vote
0answers
101 views
How to optimize calls to multiple APIs at once and return as one set?
I have a web app that searches across 2 APIs right now. I have my own Restful web service that I call, and it does all the work on the backend to asynchronously call the 2 APIs and concatenate them ...
1
vote
2answers
128 views
Is it possible to use a “non-commercial” REST API in a for-pay app?
I am interested in integrating the results of 3rd-party news API's into my for-pay application. The APIs would be a very small part of the app (e. g. the app is not just reselling the APIs). I have ...
1
vote
1answer
316 views
OCR API (in Java) with Word (NOT MS-WORD) extraction [closed]
My Situation
I need to develop an application which does crowd-sourced Image-To-Text service (just like google's reCaptcha). So I need an OCR API which can find words in an image with some text.
...
4
votes
1answer
233 views
When to use nested resources in a RESTful API
I have two resources: users and links.
Users can have several links associated with them. I have designed my RESTful API so that you can reach the links associated with a user at the following URI:
...
0
votes
2answers
72 views
Encapsulate external JavaScript library
I am about to develop a ASP.NET MVC 4 project that will make use of maps. Our company has it's own map API which is very basic at the moment, but is intended to be further developed in future to match ...
4
votes
2answers
331 views
Trailing slash in RESTful API
I have been having a debate about what to do with a trailing slash in a RESTful API.
Lets say I have a resource called dogs and subordinate resources for individual dogs. We can therefore do the ...
1
vote
2answers
166 views
Management wants an API in purchased software
My company wants to purchase new software for our General Ledger. We want to be able to interface it with various other sytems, all purchased. Nothing is custom built. The software our Accountants ...
7
votes
5answers
554 views
Why use services (REST/SOAP) instead of a library?
Let's say you're looking at breaking up your applications into services. Are there any good reasons to adopt a SOA approach vs. just creating a library API that can be loaded by the applications that ...
5
votes
7answers
334 views
Why do certain code elements (classes, methods etc.) in public APIs get deprecated over time?
Today our professor discussed with the class that what "class X or method X get deprecated" means? From what I understood, it means, for example, that we are not going to get that method or class in ...
3
votes
2answers
143 views
Library design: provide a common header file or multiple headers
There are essentially two camps of library designers concerning the design of the final header file inclusion:
Provide a single header file that includes every other header file that makes up the ...
1
vote
2answers
624 views
Is there a good example of Python code for unit testing an api? [closed]
Do you know any good example of Python unit testing code for testing an API?
Thanks!
Update:
Found this very interesting question: ...
