Hypermedia Hacking with Mike Amundsen

The Problem

With the explosion of data available on the Web, there has also been a marked increase in the number of "Web APIs" developers must deal with in order to access the data. These Web APIs almost always require consumers to write custom code in order to access the data. Some even invent their own authentication and authorization schemes that require additional development effort before the data is available for end users. The result is that every new set of data requires a new set of code; in effect, a custom client for each data set.

The Solution

Instead of publishing limited implementations that only support reading and writing raw data in simple formats such as XML and JSON, this workshop shows how you can craft rich payloads that include not just data, but also the application controls appropriate for the content; including the ability to search, sort, filter, and update data on the server. This hypermedia approach allows publishers to focus on returning the proper data and application controls to the client in each response and allows client applications to focus on understanding the hypermedia controls provided in the response instead of being required to map custom code to each service provider and data source.

The Workshop

In this workshop, attendees will learn how to implement an alternative to one-off Web APIs using Hypermedia Engines. Topics covered include:

• Hypermedia Past and Present
• Nine Essential Hypermedia Factors
• Selecting the Proper Data Format
• Adding Hypermedia Application Controls to your Responses
• Binding Protocol Methods to your Hypermedia Controls
• Serving Up your Hypermedia
• Writing Clients that Understand your Hypermedia
• Documenting your Hypermedia
• and more...

The session includes a mix of presentation, discussion, and hands-on implementation. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops and "code-along" with supplied examples throughout the day. Whether you want to focus on general Hypermedia design, server implementation details, or coding hypermedia clients, this workshop will provide lots of examples and food for thought.

If you are responsible for designing and/or implementing "Web APIs" this workshop is for you.

Reviews

Here's what recent participants in Mike Amundsen's talks had to say:

"[H]is was clearly the best session of the entire conference."

"Presentation was no-nonsense. Almost every example had immediate applicability."

"[A]n intellectual heaveyweight. Not only does he know his stuff, but he really knows how to present it and he conveys his enthusian well."

"Truly educational. Mike Amundsen was a wonderful teacher."

Mike Amundsen

An internationally known author and lecturer, Mike Amundsen travels throughout the United States and Europe consulting and speaking on a wide range of topics including distributed network architecture, Web application development, Cloud computing, and other subjects. His recent work focuses on the role hypermedia plays in creating and maintaining applications that can successsfully evolve over time. He has more than a dozen books to his credit and recently contributed to the book "RESTful Web Services Cookbook" (by Subbu Allamaraju). He is currently working on a new book on designing and implementing Hypermedia APIs. When he is not working, Mike enjoys spending time with his family in Kentucky, USA.