Robert Fox wrote:
I heard someplace recently that APIs are the newest form of vendor
lock-in. What's your take?
If you use a design pattern like MVC on top of the API (assuming you're
building a web app on top of the API),
then it doesn't have to be a lock-in scenario.
That's exactly what I have done to create a suite of library services
that are currently being integrated into a new web site. It should be
noted, however, that using a MVC pattern doesn't mean that content
brought in via a API in a data access layer can only be consumed using a
web browser. For my services, I've created multiple implementations of
the View layer. For example, a staff directory, which I obtain using an
API I wrote which accesses an external staff directory app brings the
data into a model which can be viewed as html, xml, json, and even will
produce a dynamically generated PDF that staff can print off and place
on their cubicle wall. Other services have data related information
(workshops, events, etc) have a view which produces iCal.
