3 Awesome APIs Everyone Should Know

These days, application programming interfaces (APIs) are ubiquitous. Without them, Web 2.0 would not be what it is. Developers would not have any means to hook into other web services and create useful mashups. The overall integration of content on the internet would be next to nothing. You would not be able to post a link to Facebook about a YouTube video (from YouTube) or update your status on Twitter from your iPhone. We rely on APIs heavily for much of what we do on the internet. Here is a brief overview of some neat APIs every developer should be aware of:

1. Facebook API 

If you have not heard anything about Facebook's different APIs, you must have been living in a hole for the past few years. Facebook has become the de facto social integration tool. With over 500 million active users, Facebook has become an unstoppable force of content generation and user interaction. I have even heard some people say that Facebook is becoming the internet. The company has strategically infiltrated every corner of the internet with "Like" buttons and "Login with Facebook" buttons. This is not an API that any developer can continue to ignore. Seriously. It is "do or die".

• Facebook Developer Documentation
• Introduction to Authentication using Facebook

2. GoWalla API 

GoWalla.com's API is a location-based web service. It provides developers with a way to convert between latitude/longitude coordinates and nearby establishments. GoWalla really hit big once it was debuted at the SXSW conference in 2008. You give GoWalla a latitude, a longitude and a radius (in miles) and it returns a feast of nearby establishments in JSON. The reason why I like this API so much more than GoWalla's main competitor, foursquare.com, is the type of data GoWalla gives access to and the fact they use a REST approach.

• GoWalla API Documentation
• Get an API Key
• Test out the API (without writing any code!)

3. Google Maps API

You can integrate a map of anywhere into anything now thanks to Google Maps. Yes, there are mapping APIs available (Bing and MapQuest). There are drawbacks and benefits to each. I have the most experience with Google Maps due to a project I worked on recently. The project required a robust map and the supplying service to allow many thousands of hits a day without incurring a cost (initially, at least). Bing's terms of service stated that the number of requests per day were closely monitored and highly restricted. MapQuest's API (see Documentation) was not flexible or stable enough to handle the complicated requests we were making from our service.

Google Maps API came out a strong contender and never disappointed. Google offers some extremely useful functionality and the service was very reliable.

• Google Maps API
• Getting Started with the Google Maps Javascript API
• Google Maps API Demo Gallery

Now Anyone Can Make Android Apps

A new tool from Google, named App Inventor for Android, promises to make developing applications for Google's Android platform easier than ever. App Inventor provides the user with a graphical approach to constructing apps.

Traditional development normally entails the Eclipse IDE, the Android SDK, and a lot of Java code. With App Inventor, you do not have to worry about any of this; you do not even need to be a developer. Most of the time, when an organization abstracts away all of the complexities of the product, it also inherently reduces its functionality. This is not the case with App Inventor as it still gives the user access to the device's GPS, phone features and camera.

App Inventor is built off of MIT's Java Open Blocks, a framework for visually representing Java code. This is the bit of the software that allows non-programmers to use it. Currently, this tool is only available to educators. If you qualify, I highly recommend checking it out and letting me know what you think!

Whoa! Now that is a Road Trip!

If you know me, then you know that I love driving. My friend recently came across one hell of a road trip. Be sure to take a look at the map slightly zoomed in. It has about a billion turns and some nightmare-ish chicanes and hairpins.


View Larger Map

So if you happen to be looking for an awesome road to drive and are in the neighborhood of central Romania, let me know how it is! This TopGear video is probably as close to driving on this road as I will get. Alas.

The Town That Was

I recently came across this sad video on Hulu. "The Town That Was" is a story about a small town in Pennsylvania whose coal mine caught fire in 1962 and continues to burn to this day. The mine fire drove out thousands of residents and caused the permanent closure of part of a state route. Despite many attempts by the government to save this quaint little town, it is all but abandoned save the very few who stayed.

Learn more about Centralia, PA