Google Maps is still the top choice for adding maps to the web. It’s powerful, customizable and for most sites, free. However, Google Maps pricing did encourage several large sites to make the move to other options, most recently foursquare. If you’re also looking to move from Google, our API directory has several JavaScript-based options to consider.
Our API directory has hit another major milestone. We now list 5,000 APIs, just a short four months since passing 4,000. No longer is the web simply about links connecting one site to another. Instead, developers are using tools to connect data and functionality from one site to another site. It’s an incredible transformation that has happened over a very short period of time. APIs are at the heart of Google’s strategy and they led directly to the growth enjoyed by Twitter and Facebook.
Forget uploading resumes or filling out forms on some job board. Backend-as-a-service company Parse is inviting potential hires to apply via its Parse API. In what initially looks like an added barrier to entry, the company is hoping its cheeky and geeky move will attract the sort of developers who think in JSON.
The API growth rate continues to double. In 2011, there were 2,031 APIs added to our API directory. Big companies added APIs, including the three major credit card companies in the US. But the biggest story was the continued social API growth. There are also some surprises in this year’s list of the most popular API categories and a big upset as for the first time Google Maps API was not the most popular API.
Today we’re marking another milestone in our API directory: we now list 4,000 of them. It’s only been six months since we toasted the 3,000th. And, as we’ve said before, the site ended its first year, 2005, listing only 105 APIs. The whole web as a platform has come a long way and done so very quickly. There are some areas, such as social, which are incredibly popular. There’s also a lot of room for expansion, as industries like travel and retail have yet to fully embrace APIs. How soon will we mark the 5,000th?
Simplicity wins again. Much as there are more RESTful APIs than SOAP, XML-RPC or other protocols, JSON is gaining ground on the old favorite, XML. Last fall we said JSON is the developer’s choice and therefore it’s becoming the API provider’s choice, too. XML still wins overall, but more new APIs use JSON than XML. Of APIs we’ve seen in 2011, 20% only use JSON, meaning 1 in 5 are saying goodbye to XML.
We write a lot about the growth in the number of APIs on ProgrammableWeb. But how about usage? Some APIs see so many requests that they measure in billions. We refer to these companies as the API Billionaires Club. The image below, which comes from ProgrammableWeb Founder John Musser’s talk later today at Glue, shows the big names that make up this exclusive club.
ProgrammableWeb has reached a major milestone by adding its 3,000th web service API to our API directory. We’ve come a long way when you consider there were only 105 listed at the end of 2005. As we’ve noted previously, the growth rate of APIs doubled, which led to an influx of new services. Below are some of the trends we’ve spotted as the directory marks a new high.
Was 2010 the year of the API? Some have claimed this each of the last five years, with the next always eclipsing the previous. There were 1,019 new APIs added to our API directory in 2010, two times the number added in 2009. Greater trends on the web are being played out, as social APIs were the most popular and the influence of mobile is clear.
Consuming APIs is something most developers–and even some non-developers–are doing most of the time. It’s becoming more common to build an API, in addition to using them. For all of those of you who are just getting your feet wet with this process, data portability service Gnip has shared a few pointers to keep you on the straight and narrow.
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