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Adds API Sandbox links
Commentary and examples of using the <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr>s APIs (Application Programming Interface) for software like [http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Using+the+API CiviCRM], [[MediaWiki]], Drupal and web services. Both API documentation and API tools. OS and Internet API references.
[[wp:ApplicationProgrammingInterface|Application Programming Interface]] ([[wp:API|API]]) is the information about the exposed or 'public' variables, methods and objects or classes that a system makes available to the developer who wishes to interface with the system programmatically. If you make an API, documenting the API is a critical software development function. In documentation terms, the API must almost be treated like a separate piece of software within or "attached" to the main program.
** http://api.kde.org/ APIs of the K Desktop Environment
** http://doc.trolltech.com/ APIs of the Qt GUI Toolkit
== MediaWiki API ==
MediaWiki has a strong '''action''' API (also called the web service API) which has it's endpoint at api.php. See the docs at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Main_page
Since MW 1.27, there is also a SpecialPage [[mw:Special:ApiSandbox|Special:ApiSandbox]] [https://demo.qualitybox.us/wiki/Special:ApiSandbox Demo site] for interacting with the API - just like the API explorer for CiviCRM. (previously it was an extension)
An example of the MediaWiki API in use is at the "[https://freephile.org/wikireport/index.php Wiki Report]" project. Another very interesting example is the [https://wikiapiary.com/wiki/Freephile_Wiki Wiki Apiary] (clever name!)
Similarly, there is a [[wp:Module:Sandbox|Module:Sandbox]] for testing Lua scripts
===Example Questions ===
Here are some example requests to the API
# https://freephile.org/w/api.php?action=query&meta=siteinfo&siprop=extensions With no 'format' argument, you will get a "pretty" HTML output that you can read in your browser.
# https://freephile.org/w/api.php?action=query&meta=siteinfo&siprop=extensions&format=json With *json* explicitly requested as the format, you can get values suitable for actual programming.
== Developer Tools ==
Among other tools, you're going to need to look at HTTP requests and responses to develop web services using APIs. So, check out tools like [[Wireshark]] (https://www.wireshark.org/), the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Network_Monitor Network Monitor]<ref>The "Live HTTP Headers" add-on still exists, but that is no longer neccessary given the development of the core features of the in-browser developer tools</ref> in [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools Developer Tools] for [[Firefox]], or [https://developer.chrome.com/devtools Chrome Developer Tools]
== Integrators ==
Companies like [https://platform.ifttt.com/docs IFTTT] (If This Then That) and [https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/zapier#/entity Zapier] offer API integrations so that you can tie together applications via their APIs without any coding.
{{References}}
[[Category:Applications]]
