Re: Should I build my app as an API?
Have you run into any unexpected road bumps since others started using your API? Naturally, having a solid API able to withstand the traffic is essential, but do you have any pointers for anyone wanting to go this route? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/31/2011 8:27 AM, Michael Grant wrote: Not high traffic, no. Yes the service is being consumed by a number of other businesses. Not many, perhaps a few dozen. On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341812 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
I have three pieces of advice: 1. Good Documentation 2. Good Documentation 3. Good Documentation It's probably your best tool when allowing others to access resources you've built. On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: Have you run into any unexpected road bumps since others started using your API? Naturally, having a solid API able to withstand the traffic is essential, but do you have any pointers for anyone wanting to go this route? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/31/2011 8:27 AM, Michael Grant wrote: Not high traffic, no. Yes the service is being consumed by a number of other businesses. Not many, perhaps a few dozen. On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341813 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
What is this documentation that you speak of? Programmers don't need directions! Just connect to it and poke around and see what happens! ;) Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 2/2/2011 8:14 AM, Michael Grant wrote: I have three pieces of advice: 1. Good Documentation 2. Good Documentation 3. Good Documentation It's probably your best tool when allowing others to access resources you've built. On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Have you run into any unexpected road bumps since others started using your API? Naturally, having a solid API able to withstand the traffic is essential, but do you have any pointers for anyone wanting to go this route? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/31/2011 8:27 AM, Michael Grant wrote: Not high traffic, no. Yes the service is being consumed by a number of other businesses. Not many, perhaps a few dozen. On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341814 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
Indeed. On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 9:40 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: What is this documentation that you speak of? Programmers don't need directions! Just connect to it and poke around and see what happens! ;) Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 2/2/2011 8:14 AM, Michael Grant wrote: I have three pieces of advice: 1. Good Documentation 2. Good Documentation 3. Good Documentation It's probably your best tool when allowing others to access resources you've built. On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Have you run into any unexpected road bumps since others started using your API? Naturally, having a solid API able to withstand the traffic is essential, but do you have any pointers for anyone wanting to go this route? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/31/2011 8:27 AM, Michael Grant wrote: Not high traffic, no. Yes the service is being consumed by a number of other businesses. Not many, perhaps a few dozen. On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341815 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 9:40 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: What is this documentation that you speak of? Programmers don't need directions! Just connect to it and poke around and see what happens! ;) We do this so we can tell others to RTFM! ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341816 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341709 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
Thanks Andy. I didn't realize that ColdBox had REST baked in, I'll have to look in to that. I know that there's been some buzz lately about REST with Mach-II as well, but I haven't had a chance to look into any of it either. Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 8:12 PM, andy matthews wrote: Also, consider looking into ColdBox. It's built from the ground up to allow for REST: http://www.simonfree.com/presentations/ -Original Message- From: Eric Cobb [mailto:cft...@ecartech.com] Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 8:20 AM To: cf-talk Subject: Should I build my app as an API? I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341710 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
Not high traffic, no. Yes the service is being consumed by a number of other businesses. Not many, perhaps a few dozen. On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: Thanks Michael, those were my initial thoughts on this as well. I'm glad to see someone else is doing it successfully. Just out of curiosity, are you doing this with any high traffic sites? Or, do you have any cases where other people/sites/services are also using your API? Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com On 1/28/2011 6:49 PM, Michael Grant wrote: I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobbcft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341711 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Should I build my app as an API?
I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341623 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
If you plan to expose the API anyway, then it's a solid idea. It's a great candidate for RESTful web services for the API. You'd need to authenticate requests to the API so I'd look at stuff like Google Checkout integration or Amazon S3 authentication for ideas you can emulate to secure the API calls. - Gabriel On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341625 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
Re: Should I build my app as an API?
I've done this approach a number of times and quite like it. The parent site is just a consumer of your api. You become your own first beta tester and helps identify issues before you roll out to the public. Plus if you need changes made you make them directly to the api and not just your own site. That way you can always be sure what you are experiencing is the same as what a client is. +1 for this approach. On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Eric Cobb cft...@ecartech.com wrote: I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341680 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
RE: Should I build my app as an API?
Eric... I like the idea of building out the API from the beginning. That would have the benefit of having your API almost fully tested before it's publicly released. Simon Free has some great presentations on the Do's and Don't's of writing APIs. Check them out: http://www.simonfree.com/presentations/ andy -Original Message- From: Eric Cobb [mailto:cft...@ecartech.com] Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 8:20 AM To: cf-talk Subject: Should I build my app as an API? I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341681 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
RE: Should I build my app as an API?
Also, consider looking into ColdBox. It's built from the ground up to allow for REST: http://www.simonfree.com/presentations/ -Original Message- From: Eric Cobb [mailto:cft...@ecartech.com] Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 8:20 AM To: cf-talk Subject: Should I build my app as an API? I'm getting ready to start working on what I hope is to become a pretty large side project. Right now I'm in the planning phases, and one of the (eventual) plans is to have a full API that others can use to interact with the site. When thinking about this, I came up with an idea that I wanted to run by you guys to get some opinions. Instead of taking the usual approach of building the site like I want then adding an API to it, what if I were to just build out the API first, then build my site off of that API? Has anyone ever done this, or have any ideas on this? I'm really hoping to get a good discussion going on this, so please let me know what you think! -- Thanks, Eric Cobb ECAR Technologies, LLC http://www.ecartech.com http://www.cfgears.com ~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:341682 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
