building-apis.md

#Building APIs

#Overview

• What is an API?
• Why build an API?
  • Who is going to use it?
  • What are they going to do?
• REST Architecture
  • Stateless
  • Resource Representations
  • Client Server
  • URIs
• Richardson Maturity Model (RESTful Routing)
  • 0 - RPC
  • 1 - Resources (have specific urls)
  • 2 - Verbs and Response Codes
  • 3 - HATEOAS - Self Describing
    • Hypertest as the Engine of Application State????
    • Links to available functionality in Responses
• Data Formats - Params, JSON, XML
• Error Handling
  • Status Codes
  • Error Messaging
• Authentication
  • Open
  • Client Tokens (Often ID + Secret)
  • In Headers
• Consumption: Google GeoCode Example
• Providing: Playlist
• Challenge Prep
• Review

#What is an API?

• API is an Application Programming Interface
• Twitter Documentation
  • Twitter Best Practices
  • REST Status Codes
  • Twitter Status Codes
  • Bearer Token Auth

#Consumption: Google GeoCode Example

• geolocate
• Secure Your Tokens - DONT CHECK THEM IN!
  • dotenv - .env file
  • YAML.load() - in *.yml

#Providing: Playlist

• RESTish - CRUD
• Richardson Maturity Model
• Richardson Maturity Model - extra
• HTTP Methods and Verbs
• JSON +?
• Only Provide what you need
• For External or Internal Use
• Authentication
  • Talk about OAuth Later
  • Key
  • Exchange AppID and Secret for Token
  • Header vs Param
• Often served over HTTPS
• Sinatra Moduluar Configuration - check it out
• petworld
• Postman Collection for Pet World

#Athena Example

module Athena
  module ApiHelpers
    def api_helpers_json_post_payload
      request.body.rewind
      payload = request.body.read
      return JSON.parse(payload, :symbolize_names => true) unless payload.nil? || payload.empty?
      {}
    end

    # ActiveModel::Serializer helper
    def api_helpers_serialize(object, options = {})
      klass = options[:serializer] || object.active_model_serializer
      return object.to_json if klass.nil?

      options[:scope] ||= nil

      serializer = klass.new(object, options)
      serializer.as_json.to_json
    end

  end
end

#Challenge Prep

• Challenge is to BUILD an API
• /build_an_api_challenge
• Postman Chrome Extension
• Petworld Example

#Review

• API is an Application Programming Interface
• For Web Applications:
  • JSON reponses to params or JSON body requests
• Consumption either Server Side or Client Side
• Providing: PetWorld
• Challenge Prep

#Related Resources

• All the details
• DBC Talks - Working with apis
• DBC Talks - Twitter Api Sinatra App