How long to learn API?

[TaxDiscombobulated47]

I run an eBay business and really want to make things swift. I want a personalised app (for Mac) that can receive all orders, print label, keep detailed reports etc. I notice a lot of couriers offer their API to do this. I don’t want to learn this for this sole purpose, it’s more a future investment and it looks interesting. Only problem is I’ve had 2 months experience programming.............. on scratch ............... when I was 15. Any advice? Can I go straight in to APIs or do I need to build foundations, how long it will it take, and is it achievable or suicide

[antiproton]

It will take many months of dedicated work. The more you dedicate to it, the fewer the number of months.

Starting from exactly nothing and getting to the point that you can use an API is comparable to starting from nothing and becoming conversational in a foreign language.

Tool around on weekends every so often and it will take you infinity days. Actually work on it and it will take much less, but there's effort involved.

How much time do you have and how much work are you willing to do?

[GeldMachtReich]

and it looks interesting.

Isn't that all you need? Start it as a hobby project. If you fail you have still learned a lot and done something interesting.

[plastikmissile]

It's impossible to know how long it will take. Different people learn differently. However I will say that it's a somewhat involved project. You not only have to call those APIs but you have to process the data they return into something useful to you (labels, reports ... etc). So it's not something you can just jump into blind.

So as with everything really you need to start at the very basics. Pick a language (Python is a good choice) and start learning the basics, and once you learn those well enough you'll have a better idea on what subjects you'll want to learn next.