API

The week of NASA launching Artemis I is a good time to check a few of the many APIs that make tons of raw space data accessible for anyone to use.

GraphQL is bundled with GraphiQL, which lets us run queries right in the browser! Let’s see how GitHub uses it and try kicking the tires.

Last year I caught an article about a simple, free service called ipify that returns your IP address. It became so popular the author soon found himself dealing with billions of requests per month! Here’s a look at that API and the IP Geolocation API that it spawned.

The Wayback Machine, a product of the Internet Archive, is an ambitious tool that’s been documenting websites for many years. It’s useful when a page you need is removed by the original author. Let’s take a look at their API and how we might make use of it.

The PasswordRandom API provides random values - and not just passwords as the name would seem to suggest. It also generates GUIDs, random numbers, characters, etc.

The Google Books API provides access to Google Books, which lets you search for any book and, at a bare minimium, see meta data about it. Depending on copyright status, you might also be able to see sample pages or read the entire book. You can also buy books.

The Internet Game Database is a community-driven site that collects and shares information about games and game-related data. Let’s check out the IGDB API!

Penguin Random House is a book publisher, and their API can be used to get data about books, authors and events. Let’s check it out!

The US Census Bureau APIs provide free access to geolocation data, as well as American census data, demographics, housing stats, etc. Let’s check them out!

OpenWeatherMap provides free access to extensive weather data - current conditions, 5-day forecast, uv index, weather alerts, etc. Let’s check out their API!

The ISS Notify API (or is it the Open Notify API?) was written by Nathan Bergey for a Science Hack Day competition, then released to the public. You can use it to find the location of the ISS, or to find when it’ll pass over a location! Check it out.

Trello is a virtual kanban board… or a nice to-do list if you’re going solo. I like it, maybe you will too, and their API makes nearly all areas accessible to devs.

NASA’s API makes their data (such as Mars rover photos) available to anyone who wants to consume it. It’s an unprecedented wealth of knowledge, so let’s dig in!

The NOAA API lets us query weather and climate data from NOAA, an agency that studies and charts conditions in the oceans and atmosphere. Let’s check it out!

The Google Maps API is a series of APIs for multiple platforms, each focused on a small set of tasks. At first it all seems a bit overwhelming, but each of them is pretty easy to use. Let’s check a few out!

Slack is a popular communication and collaboration tool, and their API gives us access to channels, messages, and more. Let’s check it out!

Dropbox provides file storage that syncs between your devices, and their API gives you access to that. Let’s check it out!

The Backblaze B2 Storage API, built on top of Backblaze’s cloud storage, lets you access and manage your buckets. Let’s check it out!

The Twitter API lets you access tweets, users who tweet, metadata, manipulate lists, and more. Let’s check it out!