Negotiating CSV
As the API Evangelist, I work with a lot of government and business users. One thing I’ve learned working with these groups is the power of using comma-separated values (CSV) as a media type. I know that us developers and database folks enjoy a lot more structure in our lives, but I have found that allowing for the negotiation of CSV responses from APIs, can move mountains when it comes to helping onboard business users, and decision makers to the potential of APIs–even if the data format doesn’t represent the full potential of an API. CSV responses are the low bar I set for my APIs, making them accessible to a very wide business audience.
CSV as a data format represents an anchor for the lowest common denominator for API access. As a developer, it won’t be the data format I personally will negotiate, but as a business user, it very well could mean the difference between using an API or not. Allowing me to take API responses and work with them in my native environment, the Excel spreadsheet, or Google Sheets environment. As I am designing my APIs, I’m always thinking about how I can make my resources available to the masses, and enabling the negotiation of CSV responses whenever possible, helps me achieve my objectives. https://goo.gl/br8BRG #DataIntegration #ML
