
"Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for APIs"
18 Jun 2011

- Akshell - I like environment, its smooth and has Github integration. But its primarily a JavaScript IDE. I met the developers and like where they are going with it.
- ShiftEdit - This is the one I'm using the most, because I work 70% of the time in PHP. I like the FTP access, but only has SVN for its repositoring integration.
There are several API explorers popping up out there, that let you play with one or multiple APIs and generate requests and display responses. This is a start.
I would like a full-blown IDE that I can add RESTful APIs to my libraries and would have all the capabilities of an explorer, but also have access to client libraries, code samples, and other features of an IDE for the APIs I use the most.
I could integrate both my public and private Github repositories, and I could leverage the social coding available in the Github community.
Switching between APIs can be a bitch, remembering what I did last time I worked with an API, where the code is, the syntax, and more. I'm also spending a lot of time using multiple APIs, in a single script. Like pulling bookmarks from Instapaper API, generating a PDF with PDF Crowd, then sending to Mimeo to have printed. That is 3 separate API calls.
I see a lot of potential for an IDE that is dedicated to the API space, an IDE that helps us developers efficiently integrate with the APIs we use most...as well as discover new APIs.
Related articles
- Deploying Smarter API Documentation (apievangelist.com)
- Integrate Github Into an API Community (apievangelist.com)
- Community Driven API Code Samples and Libraries | API Evangelist (apievangelist.com)