Introduction

In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building software. In general terms, it is a set of clearly defined methods of communication between various components. A good API makes it easier to develop a computer program by providing all the building blocks, which are then put together by the programmer.

An API may be for a web-based system, operating system, database system, computer hardware, or software library. An API specification can take many forms, but often includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, variables, or remote calls. AWS REST API, Windows API, and ASPI are examples of different forms of APIs. Documentation for the API is usually provided to facilitate usage and implementation.

Just as a graphical user interface makes it easier for people to use programs, application programming interfaces make it easier for developers to use certain technologies in building applications. By abstracting the underlying implementation and only exposing objects or actions the developer needs, an API simplifies programming. While a graphical interface for an email client might provide a user with a button that performs all the steps for fetching and highlighting new emails, an API for file input/output might give the developer a function that copies a file from one location to another without requiring that the developer understand the file Now you have a good idea of what an API  is, I’ll tell you that I’m more an API consumer  than a producer. In other words: I use existing API’s available on the Internet.

This is by far the most efficient way since there are litterally thousands of public API’s  publicly available on the web. There is an API for practically every application you can think of!

I first started with Yahoo! Boss as a hobby project. A few months later I had an automatic Site creator, which was configurable by just entering the concept  (or phrase) which the site should be about, as well as the language it should be published in. It then took the concept and generated a dynamic portal around the concept. This included Photos, (local) news and a graphical overview. Please note that the Clustering Search Demo elsewhere on this site makes use of public Search API’s from Yahoo! Wikipedia, Indeed and NCBI.

Just like Yahoo! Boss, 99 % of the API’s available use a REST type Interface. This is more or less the standard for modern API’s.

The table below lists of major active open API’s:

(Source: Wikipedia).

What I can do for you

• Create flexible and automated websites using public API’s like Yahoo! BOSS .
• Create Mashups
• Any other idea you may have!