Webstandards

Auf Google+ habe ich einen Artikel von Nick Bradbury, unter anderem Entwickler von FeedDemon/NetNewsWire, verlinkt, in dem dieser die Abhängigkeit von Web-APIs und das damit verbundene Problem für Entwickler anspricht:

we’ve also learned that while web APIs enable us to tap into a wealth of data, they can only be relied upon in the short term. The expiration date of software we create has been shortened due to the whims of those who create the web APIs we rely on. [..]

You might think you’re immune to this problem if you only integrate with APIs created by large players such as Twitter, Facebook and Google. But in recent years we’ve seen Twitter switch to a new authentication system, Facebook deprecate FBML, and Google discontinue several APIs. All of these changes have, or will, break existing apps.

The end result is that developers are spending more time upgrading their software to ensure that it continues to work with web APIs they’ve integrated with, and less time adding the features and refinements that would really benefit their customers.