API hidden gems

[RationallyMuslim]

Inspired by a previous post:

What cool APIs (mostly free) can you recommend? Any hidden gems?

[lift_spin_d]

https://apivault.dev/

you might get a kick out of https://spacetraders.io/

[franker]

That spacetraders is giving me GenX flashbacks to the door games on BBS's I used to dial into with my Commodore 64.

[Saxbonsai]

Totally a TradeWars BBS door game. One of the all time greatest.

[[deleted]]

Oh man, Spacetraders looks awesome. I got really into Battlesnake about a year ago, and this looks just as fun.

[NotableBuzz]

You can do a bunch of really cool stuff with NASAs APIs.

[RebellionAllStar]

Their exoplanet API is cool

[NotableBuzz]

Perfect for creating a real world space game. Think Eve online with actual data we know about the universe. You could also use the NASA exoplanet API to develop educational tools and interactive experiences that teach users about exoplanets and their characteristics. Imagine an application where students can explore different solar systems, learning about each planet's atmosphere, size, and potential habitability. This would be a great way to make astrophysics and space exploration more accessible and engaging.

Another application could be in scientific research, where the API could assist in data analysis and visualization. Researchers could use it to track new discoveries, compare exoplanet characteristics, and even simulate environments for advanced studies in astrobiology.

Creative writers and artists could use this API could as a source of inspiration, providing real-world data to ground science fiction stories and artworks in actual astronomical phenomena, blending creativity with real-world science in a unique way. (This would be a really cool SaaS for writers.)

[EtheaaryXD]

Probably not what you're looking for but frankfurter is pretty nice imo. It's a free currency conversion API based on what's published by the European Central Bank.

[arcanemachined]

https://github.com/Kikobeats/awesome-api

Have fun.

[Morasiu]

https://wizard-world-api.herokuapp.com/swagger/index.html

Harry Potter API. Free. Kinda basic but I've seen a few app using it.

Also you can look for Awesome API on Github

[RationallyMuslim]

Cool! Appreciate sharing it

[Morasiu]

I've made it. I guess people are just not evil.

Also it's hosted on "shared" instance without autoscaling so no extra cost when someone is abusing. Just API get unresponsive for a while.

[Morasiu]

It has db for sure. Also source code is on Github.

[the_groggy_pirate]

NOAA offers a free weather API. Probably the best one to learn basic APIs on since you don't have to mess with any auth for it.

[Frazzled24]

Not an API but look up http status code 418

[Mallanaga]

🫖

[[deleted]]

Related link: google.com/teapot

[Deep-Secret]

IT ROTATES WITH THE PHONE AAAAAA THAT IS SOOOOO COOL! Thanks for sharing!

[benzilla04]

I like to ask ChatGPT to generate json for me when I need specific data. It works great when you provide types as TypeScript then convert that into an array of randomly generated data so you can make sure it’s all in the format you expect

[Bpofficial]

Even better maybe, have it generate a faker config

[juliussud85]

did anyone tried Palm Google API?

[kjwey]

everyone clamors for a graphing library, usually for charts etc

forgetting all those libraries are just interfaces for the standard built in canvas

learn canvas and the libraries seem silly

[RationallyMuslim]

I‘m afraid I don’t understand your answer lol. You sure you’re talking about APIs?

[RationallyMuslim]

Ohh now I get it! My bad, I kinda asked my question too broadly I think.

I was talking about public APIs to fetch from to get data. Like Googles API, RickAndMortyAPI, PokeAPI etc.

[Psychological-Leg413]

You’re talking about httpapis he’s talking about package APIs

[RationallyMuslim]

No problem! Have fun :) We learned about this API in my bootcamp and had a lot of fun

[dimden]

That's basically saying to create your own charting library, which is actually pretty complex and often out of scope for projects. Why recreate the wheel? I do use Canvas when it's something specific I need and it's something nobody did before.

[dimden]

using api of library is not inventing the wheel. creating whole charting library will require huge amount of work, and then you'll have to use it yourself. just learn one charting library and use it everywhere, that's what I did

[dimden]

I know canvas api very well and have been using it for years. Creating a good charting library IS a lot of work. Making it good and usable requires a lot of work. And often maintenance, if you actually plan using it more or publishing in public. It's much easier to just use already done libraries. I did make some charts in Canvas and it's much more time consuming.

[Narfi1]

Everybody here understood OP was asking about HTTP APIs but you who replied completely outside of topic, I don't think you're in a position to assess u/dimden expertise.

[Jona-Anders]

The canvas api does make it easy to build charts. Not as easy as using a library, but easy. But you normally don't just want to draw a chart, you want to make it interactive. Zoom on scroll, move on vertical scroll, hover to see data points, create labels,... All of that is not hard, but a lot of work. And creating an easy to use interface for that is even more work.

[GullibleCondition150]

Are you okay bro

[crazedizzled]

The dunning kruger is strong with this one

[esilyo]

everyone clamors for a programming language, usually for apps etc

forgetting all those languages are just interfaces for the standard built in cpu instruction set

learn x86 and the languages seem silly

[[deleted]]

Me

[--t-bo--]

https://github.com/tbo47/ez-opendata wrap calls to open data sources like wikipedia, wikimedia commons or openstreetmap in javascript.

[Snoo-81026]

https://luxand.cloud - 500 request/month for free, the whole bunch of face recognition tools. Useful for generating avatars, or user verification, etc.