Access Conference

This session has a limit of 15  participants   -  Registered Access Conference participants  sign up here for Hackfest sessions.  

Are you intrigued about what you can do with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) but don’t know where to start? This is the session for you! An API is a versatile tool to access data from a database or website in a structured format that makes it possible to be used by another application. It also makes it possible to commit changes back to the database. We will start by introducing general principles about what an API is, how it works and how it can be useful. Then we will use simple tools to explore a range of APIs and learn how to interpret results and troubleshoot issues. For those willing to go further, we will do a companion session in the afternoon to start using APIs in practical contexts.

Participants are encouraged to bring their computer to the workshop to do their own exploring using a web browser or free software such as Postman. The instructor will provide sample APIs and access keys to play with, but participants are welcome to bring other examples they wish to try out. This session requires no prior IT knowledge, although familiarity with XML and JSON formats will help.