Hi Sagi and others. You are correct that the API is neglected. Google have failed to put appropriate resources into the Google Apps APIs.
Here is a brief summary of the state of things in respect of the Spreadsheets API, aside from the support story: * the first version of the protocol appeared in 2006 * it has been through 3 'beta' revisions - but in 2012 there is currently no production protocol * the current version - version 3 - had a major deprecation of a chunk of its functionality in 2011 - without even a version bump * for all intents and purposes, any improvements or defects filed against version 3 of the protocol has been closed with a message to the effect of "we will/may fix this in the next version of the API". That's right - *closed* - not even scheduled to 'v4' in the issue tracker so that we can track that the requested feature/issue is actually fixed * the 'next' version of the protocol will apparently be a radical departure from the existing versions. This has the potential to be good. But there is no publicly available specification or 'scope of work' document concerning this next version, no timeframe promised for its release, no guarantee that it will enjoy 'production' status at any point after its release. Any sense that we users might actually like to have some input into the taste of our dog-food is lacking. So the kindest thing to say about the Spreadsheets API is that it's a little playpen for about 0.3 Google engineers without any accountability to their user-base or someone vaguely resembling a product manager. This is truly a disgrace to Google, and an abysmal failure-to-realize-the-potential-of the 'cloud spreadsheet'. If Vic is unhappy about the situation, he has never given any sign (the Spreadsheet API appears to be his thankless hobby when he's not absorbed by other things). However, the fault clearly lies with Google's executives IMHO, for failing to provide customer-valued performance-criteria for the engineering teams. Like, say: protocol stability, thorough documentation, fast issue resolution, and transparency into releases. I hope that gives you a fair and even-handed appraisal of the situation! sincerely, David. On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 8:18 PM, Sagi Smolarski <[email protected]> wrote: > I am looking at this forum, and the impression I get is that it is > neglected. Many questions are left unanswered, number of posts is minimal. > Seems like a symptom of a more general problem - Is the spreadsheets API > something Google is committed to improve and support or is this another > product they are going to pull the plug on soon? > > Would be good to provide some answers so people (like myself) don't waste > their time building something on a dead-end technology, for which the > documentation is lacking, community support is non-existent, and longevity > is questionable. >
