Re: APIs to work with data on the web

These are great examples and I really like the elegance of the methods. 


Best Regards,

Steve

Motto: "Do First, Think, Do it Again"



From:
Phil Archer <phila@w3.org>
To:
Laufer <laufer@globo.com>
Cc:
DWBP WG <public-dwbp-wg@w3.org>
Date:
03/18/2014 10:58 AM
Subject:
Re: APIs to work with data on the web



I think that there are a number of possible answers to your question, 
Laufer. The one that I immediately think of is the Linked data API [1] 
which provides a framework for the kind of thing you refer to here. It 
maps URIs to SPARQL queries that can return lists of 'everything below 
here in the graph.'

There are a few implementations of the Linked Data API, one that gets 
most attention these days is ELDA [2].

An alternative URI -> SPARQL mapping tool is Pubby [3] which is used by 
DBPedia (it's from the same team).

To take a fictitious example, I agree it would be nice if:

http://data.example.com/id/building/A/rooms

returned a list of all the rooms in building A

http://data.example.com/id/building/A/rooms/ground

returned a list of all the rooms on the ground floor of building A

http://data.example.com/id/building/A/rooms/ground/01

identified room 01 on the ground floor of building A.

That's a nice thing to set up, and using something like the tools listed 
above is certainly possible. It conflates URI design with implementation 
(which may or may not be a good thing). Whether that's an actual Best 
Practice... is for the WG to decide :-)

Phil.

[1] https://code.google.com/p/linked-data-api/
[2] http://www.epimorphics.com/web/tools/elda.html
[3] http://wifo5-03.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/pubby/

On 18/03/2014 14:23, Laufer wrote:
> Steve, Manuel,
>
> I am not talking only about the Resources. Or, what are the things that 
are
> exposed as Resources.
>
> For example, in DBpedia there is a Resource for the album Houses of the
> Holy (http://dbpedia.org/page/Houses_of_the_Holy).
> There is also a Resource for the record label Atlantic Records (
> http://dbpedia.org/page/Atlantic_Records), which is the record label 
from
> the album Houses of the Holy.
>
> What is the URI of all albums of the record label Atlantic Records?
>
> My question is: could it be one Best Practice, recommended by of DWBP 
WG,
> to provide a way of exposing the "Resource" All Albums of the Record 
Label
> Atlantic Records?
>
> Best Regards,
> Laufer
>
>
>
>
> 2014-03-18 10:18 GMT-03:00 Steven Adler <adler1@us.ibm.com>:
>
>> Thanks.  A few people have agreed with our position below, but some 
still
>> like the idea of API's for accessing Data.  What is the process W3C 
uses to
>> resolve these points of view and when it is resolved, does the 
conclusion
>> get written into the Best Practices draft and/or do we also include the
>> lineage of the conclusion - that is, we we present the pros and cons 
and
>> reasons for the conclusion by also relating what we didn't recommend 
and
>> why?
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> Motto: "Do First, Think, Do it Again"
>>
>>
>>   From: <Manuel.CARRASCO-BENITEZ@ec.europa.eu> To: Steven
>> Adler/Somers/IBM@IBMUS, <Deirdre.Lee@deri.org> Cc: 
<mail@makxdekkers.com>,
>> <newton@nic.br>, <public-dwbp-wg@w3.org> Date: 03/18/2014 08:21 AM
>> Subject: RE: APIs to work with data on the web
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> +1
>>
>> -        Resources should be addressable with a URI
>> -        One should aim a common interface for humans and machine
>>
>> *http://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Data_on_the_Web_URI_Best_Practices*<
http://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Data_on_the_Web_URI_Best_Practices>
>>
>> Regards
>> Tomas
>>
>> *From:* Steven Adler [mailto:adler1@us.ibm.com <adler1@us.ibm.com>]
>> * Sent:* Monday, March 17, 2014 4:34 PM
>> * To:* Lee, Deirdre
>> * Cc:* Makx Dekkers; Newton Calegari; public-dwbp-wg@w3.org
>> * Subject:* RE: APIs to work with data on the web
>>
>> Excellent use case which begins to explore and spell out the advantages
>> and trade-offs of using API's to access Open Data.  I would like to 
explore
>> this topic in greater detail.  My own personal preference is data 
access by
>> HTTP and URI, because it provides a common interface for humans and
>> machines.  But are there performance implications?
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> Motto: "Do First, Think, Do it Again"
>>
>>   From: "Lee, Deirdre" <*Deirdre.Lee@deri.org* <Deirdre.Lee@deri.org>> 
To: Newton
>> Calegari <*newton@nic.br* <newton@nic.br>>, Makx Dekkers <
>> *mail@makxdekkers.com* <mail@makxdekkers.com>>  Cc: "
>> *public-dwbp-wg@w3.org* <public-dwbp-wg@w3.org>" 
<*public-dwbp-wg@w3.org*<public-dwbp-wg@w3.org>
>>>   Date: 03/17/2014 11:19 AM  Subject: RE: APIs to work with data on 
the
>> web
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Very interesting article indeed and related to discussions we're 
currently
>> having with developers as part of Open Data Ireland on how best to
>> publish/use machine-readable data.
>>
>> I've added a use-case on it 
*https://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Use_Cases*<
https://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Use_Cases>Please feel free to add points 
or pick up on nuances of the conversation
>> that I missed. Perhaps we could break this into multiple use-cases to 
look
>> at each of the aspects in more detail?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Deirdre
>>
>>
>> * From:* Newton Calegari [*mailto:newton@nic.br* <newton@nic.br>]
>> * Sent:* 17 March 2014 13:19
>> * To:* Makx Dekkers
>> * Cc:* *public-dwbp-wg@w3.org* <public-dwbp-wg@w3.org>
>> * Subject:* Re: APIs to work with data on the web
>>
>> Hi Laufer, I didn't know the Socrata.
>> Thanks for share the link, Makx. Very interesting text and point of 
view
>> about APIs.
>>
>> BR,
>>
>> Newton
>>
>> Em 14/03/2014, à(s) 15:58, Makx Dekkers 
<*mail@makxdekkers.com*<mail@makxdekkers.com>>
>> escreveu:
>>
>>
>> For a different perspective on APIs, see this:
>> *http://ruben.verborgh.org/blog/2013/11/29/the-lie-of-the-api/*<
http://ruben.verborgh.org/blog/2013/11/29/the-lie-of-the-api/>
>>
>> Makx.
>>
>> * From:* Newton Calegari [*mailto:newton@nic.br* <newton@nic.br>]
>> * Sent:* Thursday, March 13, 2014 6:03 PM
>> * To:* *public-dwbp-wg@w3.org* <public-dwbp-wg@w3.org>
>> * Subject:* APIs to work with data on the web
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>           Last week, Yaso and I were talking about APIs and how they 
are
>> important in all aspects of data on the web. APIs are one of the 
simplest
>> ways to access and to distribute data across the web, and we think that 
is
>> an important subject to be discussed on the WG.
>>           To talk about APIs, we obviously need to discuss about URI 
and
>> descriptors. Carrasco written the first document [*1*<
http://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Data_on_the_Web_URI_Best_Practices>]
>> about it, besides there are a few messages discussing it.
>>           Moreover, I want to share some links I consider relevant and
>> useful to discuss about this topic.
>>           Joshua Bloch, a software engineer and former *Googler*,
>> published an article on InfoQ [*2*<
http://www.infoq.com/articles/API-Design-Joshua-Bloch?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer36801&utm_medium=twitter#.UvbdCPy0BT0.delicious
>]
>> site and made a presentation called "How to Design a Good API & Why it
>> Matters" [*3* <http://www.infoq.com/presentations/effective-api-design
>]
>> (other Jushua's presentation about the same subject, but the video is
>> hosted on YouTube [*4* <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAb7hSCtvGw>]).
>> These links are very interesting and I recommend to all of you, even 
who is
>> already expert in API design.
>>
>> [1] Data on the Web URI Best Practices:
>> *http://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Data_on_the_Web_URI_Best_Practices*<
http://www.w3.org/2013/dwbp/wiki/Data_on_the_Web_URI_Best_Practices>
>> [2] Joshua Bloch: Bumper-Sticker API Design:
>> 
*http://www.infoq.com/articles/API-Design-Joshua-Bloch?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer36801&utm_medium=twitter#.UvbdCPy0BT0.delicious*<
http://www.infoq.com/articles/API-Design-Joshua-Bloch?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer36801&utm_medium=twitter#.UvbdCPy0BT0.delicious
>
>> [3] How to Design a Good API & Why it Matters:
>> *http://www.infoq.com/presentations/effective-api-design*<
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/effective-api-design>
>> [4] How to Design a Good API & Why it Matters (YouTube version):
>> *https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=aAb7hSCtvGw*<
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAb7hSCtvGw>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Newton
>>
>>
>>
>
>

-- 


Phil Archer
W3C Data Activity Lead
http://www.w3.org/2013/data/

http://philarcher.org
+44 (0)7887 767755
@philarcher1