More REST API activities
To get more practice working with various APIs, I provide several examples in this Resources section. Working through these activities will give you more exposure to different REST APIs, how they’re organized, the complexities and interdependency of endpoints, and more.
Available activities
There are several activities with different APIs. A challenge is listed for each activities. First, try to solve the challenge on your own. Then follow along in the sections below to see how I approached it.
In these examples, I usually just print the code to a web page to visualize the response. The following activities are available:
- Get event information using the Eventbrite API
- Flickr example: Retrieve a Flickr gallery
- Get wind speed using the Aeris Weather API
Shortcuts for API keys
Each API requires you to use an API key, token, or some other form of authentication. Register for your own API keys.
Swap out APIKEY in code samples
I never insert API keys in code samples for a few reasons:
- API keys expire
- API keys posted online get abused
- Customizing the code sample is a good thing
When you see APIKEY in a code sample, remember to swap in an API key there. For example, if the API key were 123, you would delete APIKEY and use 123.
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
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