dretblog

PubSub: A Short Introduction

Recently, [W3C](https://www.w3.org/) published the first working draft of a protocol called [PubSub](https://www.w3.org/TR/pubsub/). It is on the W3C TR track and thus intended to become a W3C recommendation. While the name is new, it is the protocol that previously has been... Read more →

A PubSub Called PubSub

There is a new *PubSub* protocol in town, and it's called *PubSub*. Just this week, [W3C](https://www.w3.org/) published a first public draft of the [PubSub](https://www.w3.org/TR/pubsub/) protocol. It is what used to be called [PubSubHubbub (sometimes shortened to PuSH)](https://github.com/pubsubhubbub/), but W3C has... Read more →

API Usability Matters: UX and CX is like DX and ...

Being faster at designing and delivering new experiences and products has become one of the main rallying cries of "digital transformation". As a modern organization, you have to stop struggling with the IT side of your goals (or create artificial... Read more →

API Maps: Hypermedia API Design

*API First* is the approach of consciously designing APIs instead of treating them as by-products of implementation work. It is the same mindset that is popular for human-facing Web sites: Design these consciously, and they will be much more likely... Read more →

Whypermedia: Why use Hypermedia?

The question of whether hypermedia (sometimes referred to as the REST hypermedia constraint) is a worthwhile foundation for API design is debated quite often. One of the frequent counter-arguments is that designers and developers are not that familiar with hypermedia,... Read more →

Resource Profiles and Types

RFC 6906 defining "The 'profile' Link Relation Type" has been published a little while ago and I discussed it briefly when it was published. It has been picked up in a variety of places, and seeing where it is being... Read more →

JSON Schema: Why and How

Prompted by a thread on the IETF's JSON WG mailing list, I find myself wondering (again) why the current JSON landscape does not have an established schema language, and what it would take to change that. There is a long-expired... Read more →

Patterns for Robust Extensibility

Extensibility is key to creating APIs that not only work initially, but that also can evolve in terms of being appropriated for different contexts, and/or evolving over time. Extensibility is not the only pattern that robust and evolvable APIs should... Read more →

Uploading Routes to Garmin fēnix 3 (or: #letmeusemydata)

One problem described recently is how to get useful track and waypoint information out of Garmin's rather closed world. The other direction can be equally tricky, by which I mean how to get tracks and waypoints onto the device to... Read more →

How to Create and Use Waypoints with Garmin Devices (or: #givememydata)

Imagine you are hiking or walking and you are using a GPS to record your track. Modern devices such as Garmin's watches allow you to "Save Locations" along the way, which can be a handy way to mark some kind... Read more →