API

Last week we were introduced to APIs.  API stands for Application Programming Interface.  I kept thinking of it as a Widgit  rather than and layer of programming underneath the user interface.  To simplify things for me and help me better understand the concept, I went to You Tube to see what I could find.  I found this short 2 min video that uses games as an analogy.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r7QpIDEI_o&feature=related  Board games are great until the player gets board and out grows the game because it is closed and has only 1 set of rules.  Cards however are open and there are millions of variations of games to be played with a deck of cards, kind of like what and API can do.   I also watched this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcHhwsTIK_o&feature=related , which explained things a bit better for me.  It is an older video but his example of using a company’s sales data and showing it on Google Maps using a Google API was a great example.

I also read a blog by an API developer, http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-tradeoffs-of-using-Mashery-vs-building-and-maintaining-your-own-API .  He talked about the advantages and disadvantages for creating your own API versus using a company like Mashery or Apigee.  After reading his opinion, it sounds like the only disadvantage of using an API development company is cost.  But the level of expertise needed to create, manage and support an API make it very difficult for companies to do on their own.  He talks about the need for domain expertise, rapid deployment, scalability, availability, reporting and community support in order to have a successful API.  Companies like Mashery and Apigee have the experience and expertise to support all of these needs.

I also found a very interesting article written just 2 weeks ago about AT&T.  http://www.fastcompany.com/1779967/why-att-is-opening-itself-up-to-app-developers .  AT&T's new toolkit, includes an API platform and HTML5 software developer kit (SDK) for use by any and all developers.  Apigee is one of the partners to help build AT&T’s toolkit.  So if anyone can use AT&T’s platform and resources for their API’s especially for mobile devices for other carriers, than what is in it for AT&T?  This will be a revenue stream for AT&T.  There will be lots of free stuff but there will be some “per call” fees and some fees associated with advertising modules, etc.  Sort of “a few supporting many” business model.

I find the whole concept of APIs quite fascinating.  I am very curious to see how this technology grows and changes the internet.