I am always looking for new avenues to help onboard folks with APIs. I’m concerned that folks aren’t quite ready for the responsibility that comes with a programmable web, and I’m looking for ways to help show them how the web is already programmable, and that APIs can help them take more control over their data and content online. A significant portion of my low hanging fruit API work centers around the forms already in use across websites, and how these forms are a doorway for data, and content that should also be available via an API. If information is already available on your website, and being gathered or displayed in response to a form on your website, it is a great place to start a conversation around providing an API that delivers the same functionality.
Sometimes forms drive website searches, and act as a way to gather some data before presenting results–providing a good example of a GET API. In other situations, forms act as an input for data, such as a contact form, or survey response. In these scenarios, forms provide a good example of a writable, or POST API path–allowing data and content to be added into a system. I’m always pointing out that if data is displayed in tables, or accessible through a form submission on a website, this is where you should start with readable APIs. The same holds true for form submissions that gather data, being where folks should bet starting with writable APIs. https://goo.gl/Dd1v35 #DataIntegration #ML
