

When SDKs Are Better Than APIs - travisvan415
http://blog.programmableweb.com/2013/10/04/when-sdks-are-better-than-apis/

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nathancahill
Maybe SDKs are better than bad APIs, but a good, truly RESTful API has the
power and ease of use you seem to see it SDKs. The problem is the lack of good
APIs. Returning a JSON list isn't enough anymore. The presentation [1] by
apigee on RESTful APIs sums it up quite well.

I also disagree with this:

> "SDKs [...] abstract the detail of underlying communications"

Sure they do, but so does the Python Requests module for APIs. If anything,
SDKs are more limited by their abstractions, when the abstractions are tied to
a specific platform. APIs are about opening up data to be consumed
programmatically by any client that can curl a URL, like the fabled microwave
that runs 'nix.

[1] [http://www.slideshare.net/apigee/restful-api-design-
second-e...](http://www.slideshare.net/apigee/restful-api-design-second-
edition)

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davidberlind
Nathan,

Definitely some food for thought here. Would you like to write an analysis to
this effect for ProgrammableWeb?

Let me know.

David Berlind editor-in-chief ProgrammableWeb.com

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adambratt
There's this super stealthy startup right now that's trying to solve this:
[http://apiweb.io](http://apiweb.io)

Keep it on the dl.

