An application programming interface (API) is the specification for which software is meant to be used by other software.
Questions tagged [api]
1299 questions
32
votes
2 answers
Should a website use its own public API?
I am starting to write a webservice, and I've built with nodeJS and a RESTfulish approach.
From what I gather:
The advantage is that you don't have to duplicate code.
The disadvantages are that you:
will update the public API frequently, but…
czzarr
22
votes
4 answers
Deprecate a web API: Best Practices?
Eventually you need to depreciate parts of your public web API. However I'm confused on what would be the best way to do it. If you have a large 3rd party app base just yanking old versions of the API seems like the wrong way to do it as almost all…
TheLQ
- 13,580
14
votes
1 answer
API key - in content or header
Working on an API at the moment and just wanted to gather opinions on where the best place to transmit the API key should be. I know that is shouldn't go in the URL, this leaves the request header or the message body.
If I put it in the header I can…
garryp
- 255
13
votes
8 answers
How do you remember numerous API?
There are lots of other APIs I need to use besides the Selenium test tool to be able to get tests working. Not using them for just one week and the mind has lost all of them.
How is it possible to remember zillions of APIs?
Tarun
- 942
13
votes
4 answers
Is there an API for determining congressional districts?
I'm looking to determine the congressional district based on an address my user is providing. This will avoid having the user to look it up themselves.
Does an API of this sort exist?
Note
Through my attempts to find one, I've only come across…
ardavis
- 233
6
votes
2 answers
Is it smart to use an API on the same server as your web application
Im new to RESTful API's and would like to find some info out.
Currently we run a daily digest of eHealth material for the public to read and get up to date content regarding that topic. Which is powered by Laravel 5.2 and a MySQL Database.
We have…
user223713
6
votes
1 answer
How to efficiently query movies with characters via The Movie DB API?
I have a sort of whiteboard style question about efficiently querying The Movie DB API to find a list of characters in movies.
My overall aim is to:
Search for a movie by title (1 request)
Look up all the characters played in that movie (1…
AncientSwordRage
- 1,033
- 1
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- 24
5
votes
4 answers
Is deprecating a real commitment?
If you deprecate something, are you guaranteeing you will get rid of it in the next major release? Is it reasonable to take two or three releases before you get rid of it completely?
Update: Thanks for the answers. Java is a good standard for…
Scott C Wilson
- 3,908
5
votes
2 answers
Sharing API's between different Programming languages?
I was just wondering how API's can be shared between different Programming languages.
I mean, MS have .Net which uses VB.net C# and various other technologies.
I doubt .Net is written for each programming language.
How are structs and classes…
4
votes
1 answer
API Server Client Setup
Suppose you have a setup where there is an API Server and all interaction revolve around the API. There is the admin, public and third party components that interact with the API server.
Suppose we have an e-commerce model, the components' have the…
chronorep
- 41
3
votes
1 answer
Removing unnecessary data from a User object in API
I have many Users for every Group. Each User has an array of objects in the following form:
User.groups
[
{
"name": "My Group",
"group_id": "1337xD",
"is_admin": true
}
]
As you can see, each User contains a reference to…
Carpetfizz
- 493
3
votes
2 answers
The Critical Functionality of an API has changed, what should I do?
What should you do if an API has changed the provided functionality? [In this case it would affect your project as a whole]
Some more context in my situation: Facebook eliminated the APIs ability to create, update, or delete event's via their API,…
monksy
- 639
2
votes
3 answers
How should an API handle timezone related data?
I have data in my database in UTC time format in this format (pseudo):
[
{
"date": "Date: 2020-02-12T08:00:00+0000"
"productsSold": {
0: 122,
1: 130,
2: 90,
...
}
}
]
So in this example on the 12 of…
RaideR
- 121
2
votes
2 answers
When and how long should I cache data read from an external API?
I am working with an API but I am unsure what the best way to store the API return values.
Specifically, I am working with the RIOT API just as a small hobby project. I would like to store this information somewhere so that I can not only compare…
Brandyn
- 213
2
votes
2 answers
Internal api development and committing procedure
I am now on the job of extending and refactoring a set of APIs and core data structures that most of the other components depend on. The team is small (5 people ).
A manager told me that before checking in my changes, I should search throughout…
Feischi
- 21