API_tutotial2016

This is an API tutorial for a workshop at "Code for DC's National Day of Civic Hacking"

What is an API?

• Application Programming Interface
• “set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software and applications” [Wikipedia]
• Usually used when someone makes an app that uses data
• Access:
  • Databases (comment sections on websites, open government data)
  • streaming data (e.g uber, twitter)

Files description:

• One .keynote with some basic API info and a resources slide
• Two .py files:
  • API_code.py contains code to grab data from the 30-day crime API
  • scheduled_API_code.py contains code to schedule grabing of the data so you can collect multiple times at regular intervals (eg when running on a server): - Data is appended to a csv, - Duplicates are removed, - Scheduling is (currently, but you can change it) once every ~29 days
• One .ipynb file that steps through the process more clearly (hopefully)
  • the code is a little different from API_code.py but essentally does the same thing
• One .geojson file as an example of API output
• Two .csv. example output files. They are slightly different:
  • spyder_foo.csv is an output when running the scheduled_API_code.py from my Spyder IDE
  • ipython_foo.csv is the output when running the ipython notebook code.

Resources

• Read more about APIs on this Techcrunch post Tutorials
  • Codecademy tutorials
  • Automating the boring stuff Scroll down to JSON and APIs section: Tips
• How to read response codes
• Always check the Terms of Use / Terms of Service

APIs you could play with

• Weather data
• Soundcloud
• FCC API that returns a full address when given a longitude and latitude
• WMATA transport data
• DC crime data