API Guide

This guide contains tools and resources for learning about Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and how to use them.

API Basics

This is a very short list of interesting web APIs to learn about.

What's a mashup? It's an application that utilizes one or more APIs in combination to provide a solution to a problem or ask new questions.

What is an API Mashup?
Programmable Web Mashups
HousingMaps (2005) was the very first Google Maps mashup, created before there was a Google Maps API. It overlaid Craigslist apartment and housing listings on a map, for some 30 US cities plus London.
We Feel Fine by Jonathan Harris (2006) - New media art project that explores human emotion on a global scale.
Radiolab: Insomnia Line - Recent episode that explores the use of voice mail to connect with people experiencing insomnia. I thought this was an interesting parallel and accessible form of crowd sourcing data relating to emotional states.
#Elkbot (2011) / Demo WIP Video - by RJ Duran & Chris Znerold
INFOGRAPHIC — A History of Modern API Mashups
TOP 15 MUSIC APIS TO POWER YOUR NEXT MASHUP
Mapping World Literature with Mapbox by Tess Stevens (C11)
MagicMirror - Code used to power the magic mirror in the studio.
Spotify Developer Showcase - A neat selection of apps that use Spotify API in some way.

These are platforms that utilize APIs in their products. The use of one or more APIs is core to their business model.

later.com - Instagram Marketing
Slack Apps - Apps for Slack ecosystem
Zapier - Connects anything to anything else
- Building an App the Simple Way: 6 Database-Powered App Builders (2015) - List of tools to build databases.

This section contains references to tools and background knowledge needed for understanding how to work with and build APIs.

Tutorials
- Data, Libraries and APIs - A great section of Dan Shiffman's Programming from A to Z Course covering APIs, data, and p5.js.
- Working with Data and APIs in JavaScript - A recent tutorial series by Dan Shiffman covering working with data and APIs. He uses p5.js but the focus is mostly on Javascript.
fetch()
- Fetching data from a server - Explains how to use Fetch API (fetch()) vs jQuery.ajax() vs XMLHttpRequest.
JS Datatypes
- Understanding Data Types in Javascript
Arrays
Objects
- Data Type: Objects
- Debugging: Using typeof. typeof "a string"
- Objects Quick Reference
- Javascript Built-In Object Reference
- Eloquent Javascript - This is a great book to learn more about the language and how to use Objects.

Tutorials
- Firebase - Dan Shiffman's Firebase Tutorial - This is a great resource for going deeper into JS, APIs, and related programming topics in general.
Tools
- Sandbox - A nice tool for building basic APIs. Signup for free account to keep API URLs.
- okta
- RunKit
- Strapi - Node.js based headless CMS
- Sheetsu - Makes it easy to access a Google Sheet through an API
- 11 Best Tools to Test and Build API Faster

Tutorials
- Working with Data - Tutorial series by Dan Shiffman about JSON and APIs
Language
- JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) - A syntax for storing and exchanging data.
- JSON Syntax
Tools
- JSON Formatter - Chrome extension that makes it easy to see JSON data in the browser. Github repo.
Example of JSON response from Github API - This GET request to the Github API returns public data about my Github account
JSON is Clearly the King of API Data Formats in 2020