

Periodic Table of Google APIs - rafaelc
http://code.google.com/more/table/

======
requinot59
Whenever I see "Periodic table of", I remember of this blog post by Rob Pike:
[http://commandcenter.blogspot.com/2010/08/know-your-
science....](http://commandcenter.blogspot.com/2010/08/know-your-science.html)

 _"Another sort of abuse is comedy periodic tables: periodic tables of the
vegetables, period table of the desserts, periodic table of the presidents,
and on and on. There are zillions of them. I believe the vegetables one was
the first widely distributed example.

What's wrong with them? Again, they miss the point about the one true periodic
table, Mendeleev's periodic table of the elements. In fact, to put things with
no structure into a periodic table not only misses the point of the periodic
table, it misses the profound idea that some things have periods."_

~~~
neild
This is entirely true, _but_ I would like to point out the existence of a
Periodic Table of Desserts that does not omit the _periodic_ nature of the
table:

<http://eblong.com/zarf/periodic/>

~~~
r00fus
I really like the dessert "structures" - highly informative in a "Good Eats"
kind of way.

------
Colloquick
My tips for Internet fame:

\- Open up the Google API table. Close your eyes and click randomly on the
page until two or more new windows appear.

\- Using these APIs, create a mash-up with Bing Maps.

\- Go to Domainr and search for an applicably douche-y domain to ship your new
app under.

\- Wait for the venture capital funding to flood in.

~~~
idoh
That's the plan! Except for the VC part

------
pamelafox
FYI, if you are interested in a straight list of the APIs, you can browse them
here: <http://code.google.com/more/>

I believe the periodic table data is based on or generated from that list.

We do have quite a few APIs over overlapping areas, so the periodic table is a
nice alternative way to get a feel for them.

------
morganpyne
OK, it may not be an appropriate metaphor for science purists but it is
extremely useful to have links to all APIs in one place, grouped visually by
topics. I had enough trouble keeping up with the myriad APIs that Google
provides and wasn't even aware of many of the ones linked to, so I applaud the
effort.

~~~
requinot59
Seriously, is the specific and quite "strange" disposition of the periodic
table really adapted here? Why not a simple table-based layout, with no
useless holes?

Here on FF 3.6 on a 1280x1024 display, some of the labels are truncated...

~~~
jRoden
Why are you sperging about this so much? It's just a cutesy geeky reference. I
don't think anyone is under the impression that it actually leverages the
layout of the periodic table in a useful way. What a curmudgeon.

~~~
iamwil
Because it's cargo culting. The periodic table looks the way it does because
it's about the _relationships_ between the different elements organized
spatially on the page. Because of that, it also lets us _predict_ elements we
haven't discovered yet! Amazing!

There's really no reason that the relationship between typography, dessert,
vegetables, google apis look anything like the relationship between the
elements. If it did, we'd really be on to something!

But! If the relationships between google apis isn't at all like the elements,
what would it look like? And even more interesting, if there are missing
spaces, that means there are google apis not yet written that we can look
forward to!

<http://www.ozonehouse.com/mark/periodic/>

Is an example where someone did a periodic table that tried to use space as a
way to convey information about the relationship between the perl operators.
Notice how it looks nothing like the PTofE. It has its own structure because
the relationship between perl operators is different than the relationship
between the elements.

Those of us that are sticklers about this feel so, probably because we find
the beauty of the actual meaning behind the structure of the periodic table
much much more interesting and beautiful than any joke you can make from it.

Sometimes, jokes are funny because they're the truth that no one wants to say.
Like when Chris Rock says, "[When listening to your woman], you've always got
to throw in 'told you that bitch crazy', because every woman has another woman
at their work, that they can't stand"

Other times, jokes are funny because one doesn't know any better. Like when
Chris Rock says, "If they can send a space shuttle to the moon, why can't they
make an El Dorado with a bumper that doesn't fall off?"

------
ssn
"Visualization is not Periodic, Period!"
[http://eagereyes.org/blog/2009/visualization-is-not-
periodic...](http://eagereyes.org/blog/2009/visualization-is-not-
periodic.html)

------
adrianwaj
No Shared Spaces API: <http://sharedspaces.googlelabs.com/p/api>

although, that API is here:
[http://www.programmableweb.com/apis/directory/1?company=Goog...](http://www.programmableweb.com/apis/directory/1?company=Google)

Why don't they just offer a straight search API?

~~~
fooandbarify
If I remember correctly, they used to have one (until about 2 years ago?) but
it was discontinued, presumably because there was no way to serve ads through
it.

Edit: The Google Web Search API (<http://code.google.com/apis/websearch/>) was
only deprecated in November of last year and should still be usable for a
while, although the documentation appears to be gone.

~~~
adrianwaj
They should just offer a search api and and adwords api together. The
publisher can get a cut of the adwords revenue, and there should be some sort
of checking that search is being served with adwords - just by looking at
comparative bandwith from the one ip.

If Google don't have social in their dna
(<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyOqNE7H9Ng/>), then they should work with
those that do.

------
antimatter15
I'm rather saddened that Chromium doesn't overlap with where Chromium should
be.

------
vosper
The table is a bit misleading; lots of these entries aren't web APIs - Google
TV optimisation guide, V8 source repository, Java developer tools.

~~~
pamelafox
The more accurate name (that we use sometimes) would be "Google Developer
Products", but that just doesn't slip off the tongue as nicely.

When I started at Google, all of our APIs were true APIs, and my title was
"API support engineer." Then we started developing these not-quite-API tools
and platforms, and my titled changed to "Developer Programs Engineer". Also
doesn't quite slip off the tongue. I do miss those simple days when we only
had APIs... Alas!

------
ez77
This is neat! rafaelc, where did you find this?

------
tybris
and yet not a single one for web search...

