REST API growth

Services mashup

Functions below interfaces

Requests and responses

The web follows REST

Simple weather API

Get API keys

curl

curl --get --include 'https://simple-weather.p.mashape.com/weatherdata?lat=37.3710062&lng=-122.0375935' \
-H 'X-Mashape-Key: EF3g83pKnzmshgoksF83V6JB6QyTp1cGrrdjsnczTkkYgYrp8p' \
-H 'Accept: application/json'

cURL commands

Analyze responses

JSON objects:

{
"key1":"value1",
"key2":"value2"
}

JSON arrays:

["first", "second", "third"]

Log the response to the console

Use dot notation to access values

Wind speed:

data.query.results.channel.wind.speed

Wind direction:

data.query.results.channel.wind.direction

Wind chill:

data.query.results.channel.wind.chill

Result

Example

Resource terminology varies

• API calls
• Endpoints
• API methods
• Calls
• Resources
• Objects
• Services
• Requests

Example

Put path parameters in curly braces

/campaigns/{campaign_id}/actions/send
                  

Example

Grouping operations

The same resource often has multiple operations, so organize them as it makes sense for your API.

Example

Parameter order is irrelevant

/surfreport/{beachId}?days=3&units=metric&time=1400

/surfreport/{beachId}?time=1400&units=metric&days=3

Note the data types if important

• string
• integer
• boolean
• object

Request body parameter example

{
"days": 2,
"units": "imperial",
"time": 1433524597,
"active": true
}

Example

API Explorers provide interactivity

Requests can be dangerous

Requests execute real operations on the client's data. It isn't a sandbox.

Example

Strategies for nested objects

Tripane help design

Often included with response

Status codes are often included with the response examples.

Example

Target expected user languages

This code can be auto-generated