api Application Programming Interface

The term API stands for Application Programming Interface.

An API is a set of command, functions, routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the predefined functions to interact with the software application, instead of writing code from scratch.

An Application Programming Interface (API) is an interface implemented by a software program to enable its interaction with other software. It is similar to the way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers. APIs are implemented by applications, libraries and operating systems to determine the vocabulary and calling conventions. The programmer should employ it to use their services. It may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and protocols used to communicate between the consumer and implementer of the API.

Web API

A Web API is typically a defined set of HTTP request messages along with a definition of the structure of response messages, typically expressed in JSON or XML. While “Web API” is sometimes considered a synonym for web service, the Web 2.0 applications typically have moved away from SOAP based web services towards more direct REST style communications. Web APIs allow the combination of multiple services into new applications known as mashups.

Mashup web application hybrid

Mashups are an exciting genre of interactive Web applications that draw upon content retrieved from external data sources to create entirely new and innovative services.

In web development, a mashup is a web page or application that uses or combines data or functionality from two or many more external sources to create a new service.

In the past years, more and more web applications provide APIs that enable software developers to easily integrate data and functions instead of building it themselves. Mashups can be considered to have an active role in the evolution of social software and Web 2.0.

Open API

Open API (often referred to as OpenAPI) is a word used to describe sets of technologies that enable websites to interact with each other by using SOAP, Javascript and other web technologies. While its possibilities aren’t limited to web-based applications, it’s becoming an increasing trend in so-called Web 2.0 applications.

OpenSocial is currently being developed by Google in conjunction with MySpace and other social networks including Bebo.com Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING. The ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to implement the APIs and host third party social applications.

Google Maps API

The Google Maps API allow for the embedding of Google Maps onto web pages of outside developers, using a simple JavaScript interface or a Flash interface. It is designed to work on both mobile devices as well as traditional desktop browser applications. The API includes language localization for over 50 languages, region localization and geocoding, and has mechanisms for enterprise developers who want to utilize the Google Maps API within an intranet. The API HTTP services can be accessed over a secure (HTTPS) connection by Google Maps API Premier customers.

Twitter

The Twitter micro-blogging service includes two RESTful APIs. The Twitter REST API methods allow developers to access core Twitter data. This includes update timelines, status data, and user information. The Search API methods give developers methods to interact with Twitter Search and trends data. The API presently supports the following data formats: XML, JSON, and the RSS and Atom syndication formats, with some methods only accepting a subset of these formats.

Amazon eCommerce API

What was formerly the ECS – eCommerce Service – has been renamed the Product Advertising API. Through this API developers can retrieve product information. The API exposes Amazon’s product data and e-commerce functionality. This allows developers, web site publishers and others to leverage the Amazon Product Discovery features that Amazon uses to power its own business, and potentially make money as an Amazon affiliate. Additionally, the API has features allowing developers to advertise proucts, let users search for Amazon products and help users discover Amazon products. Both REST and SOAP APIs are provided, this profile is for the REST API.

Facebook API

The Facebook API is a platform for building applications that are available to the members of the social network of Facebook. The API allows applications to use the social connections and profile information to make applications more involving, and to publish activities to the news feed and profile pages of Facebook, subject to individual users privacy settings. With the API, users can add social context to their applications by utilizing profile, friend, Page, group, photo, and event data. The API uses RESTful protocol and responses are localized and in XML format.

Youtube API

The Data API allows users to integrate their program with YouTube and allow it to perform many of the operations available on the website. It provides the capability to search for videos, retrieve standard feeds, and see related content. A program can also authenticate as a user to upload videos, modify user playlists, and more.

Flickr API

The Flickr API can be used to retrieve photos from the Flickr photo sharing service using a variety of feeds – public photos and videos, favorites, friends, group pools, discussions, and more. The API can also be used to upload photos and video.The Flickr API supports many protocols including REST, SOAP, XML-RPC. Responses can be formatted in XML, XML-RPC, JSON and PHP. Documentation is included for 14 API Kit libraries.

eBay API For Developers

World’s largest online auction service. API allows for both searching of products and upload of new listings. Both SOAP and REST are supported.

With the eBay API you communicate directly with the eBay database in XML format. By using the API, your application can provide a custom interface, functionality and specialized operations not otherwise afforded by the eBay interface.

Delicious API

The del.icio.us API provides read/write access to Delicious bookmarks and tags via an HTTP-based interface. The RESTful API returns responses in XML.

Last.fm API

The Last.fm API gives users the ability to build programs using Last.fm data, whether on the web, the desktop or mobile devices. The RESTful API allows for read and write access to the full slate of last.fm music data resources – albums, artists, playlists, events, users, and more. It allows users to call methods that respond in either XML or JSON.

Yahoo Saerch API

Yahoo! Web Search Web Services give users the ability to integrate Yahoo! Search technologies into other sites, applications, and environments. The Web Search Web Services will query Yahoo! systems without making the user leave your website or interface and incorporate the results in your applications.

Digg API

The Digg Application Programming Interface (API) has been created to let users and partners interact programmatically with Digg. Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. The API returns Digg data in a form that can be integrated into an application or a web site.

Windows API

The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft’s core set of application programming interfaces (APIs) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was formerly called the Win32 API.

Micro-blogging is a term used for posting brief text updates to a blog, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group, particularly by using instant messaging software or a cell phone. Twitter is the best-known microblogging tool, but facebook’s status updates have similar features.

The space is hot and it’s still heating up.

Twitter is undoubtedly becoming one of the fastest growing social media tools in existence. As it continues to expand, so too does the diversity of its user base.

On Twitter, you will find:

• Memes, games, and activities
• A company, product, or brand
• Suspended accounts
• Guy in a suit, corporate background, with more following than followers
• Default avatar: means 3 things… spam, n00b, or something else
• Entertainers, athletes, and otherwise famous people
• News sources
• Characters, personalities, and unusual entities
• The rest of us

Twitter just launched “Verified Account” ^beta

To prevent identity confusion, Twitter is experimenting (beta testing) with a ‘Verified Account’ feature.

Like any other Internet tool, microblogging can be utilized for a number of purposes. While many are social, more pragmatic uses including business applications, also apply.

Teens can use microblogging as a social service to see what their friends are up to, scout out parties, or to simply stay linked for the fun of it while engaging in every day activities like school, shopping and studies. Student officers might also create microblogs for class committees to keep abreast of progress on project assignments.

It’s not only students who can benefit from this modernized, improved version of the telephone tree. Faculty might also find uses for microblogging. For example, when preparing for performances, band and drama teachers could use microblogs to network participating students for improved organizational efficiency. The quick nature of microblogs makes it a good management tool when the success of a project relies on many different people pulling together in a timely fashion.

Businesses can also use this tool for gathering and disseminating bullet-type information to the right parties, such as from a sales conference or client meeting. Court reporters can use microblogging to relay updates to producers and anchors in one fell swoop, and politicians can keep in touch with staff. Tour staff such as roadies, sound engineers and drivers could all benefit from being connected via a microblog that would keep everyone with the tour abreast of problems as they arise and resources at hand. By using a microblog one hand always knows what the other is doing.

Another use of microblogging involves boosting site traffic. A popular website blogger might announce updates or teasers to his or her blog through a microblog. An embedded link can take readers directly to the site.

While many question the need for yet another way to stay connected, over 100 microblog services reportedly exist as of Spring 2008, with the trend headed upward.

Google PageRank Update May 2009

Today, I had a pleasant surprise present from Google. Google did the toolbar PageRank update on 28 May 2009 and JSXTECH.COM jumped from google page rank 0 to PR4.

Google updated its pagerank toolbar today and the pageranks of the websites are changed accordingly. My new personal blog got google page rank 0 to PR4 in just 28 days and I am quite happy with it and enjoying it. Not only homepage got PR there are lot of inner pages also which got pagerank and I m simply loving it.

I registered the domain name on Apr 30th 2009 and installed wordpress on same day. You can check my wordpress first blog post “Hello World, My first blog post” and published my first article “Why I believe Open-Source Technology is better than others?” on May 15th 2009.

Today, I’m publishing this article so to be Google PR4 just after 28 days after registration of the domain name is very surprising and feels like a great achievement.

I was thinking about steps I have taken, steps that you can take, to get your blog site to be ranked PR4 by Google in a short period of time.

I used to think that Toolbar PR is not important as long as your posts rank well in search engines. But with time, I have discovered that Toolbar PR is important. Traffic issues aside, blogs/sites with high PR are considered to be more credible by many people.

Fellow webmasters and bloggers, I would like to know how your sites have fared in this PageRank update. Feel free to share your experiences.

What about your blog, has it gained PageRank?

So whats your Page rank? Did you get any benefit?

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, thank you for viewing my blog! This seems like a cool feature and I wanted to experiment with it a bit.

I intend this blog to mostly about what is going on in Open Source Development, with occasional other stuff thrown in. Thanks to Hersh, who’ve been nagging me for not blogging. But as they say: “Better late than never”.

It’s a real pleasure to be making my digital debut and to be posting my first (of many) blog posts. For those of you who missed my warm welcome a few weeks back, I’m Jaspal Singh, Software Professional.

I plan on posting some more interesting and thought-provoking material in the not too distant future but, in the meantime, I can always be followed on twitter. You can also see my LinkedIn profile. Also, feel free to drop me a line at jsxtech at gmail dot com and to share any ideas.

Well that is all for now, thanks for reading!

More to come soon,

Jaspal Singh aka jsxtech