The Miranda API: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:24, 11 January 2019

Miranda has a web interface available at collections.folger.edu/, but that's not the only way to access the Folger's unified collections. Our interface relies upon a GraphQL API available to all comers at https://collections.folger.edu/graphql.

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a way for programs to talk to each other. (Or, sometimes, for dedicated individuals to talk to computer programs.) GraphQL offers an approach to APIs that lets the requestor define what is returned.

Read our API guide written by the technical team at ParsonsTKO. Please note that this version was written in accompaniment to our Miranda beta launch, and represents work done so far. It is not final documentation.

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-Miranda has a fabulous web interface available at collections.folger.edu/, but that's not all. Our interface relies upon a GraphQL API available to all comers at <nowiki>https://collections.folger.edu/graphql</nowiki>.
+Miranda has a web interface available at [https://collections.folger.edu/ collections.folger.edu/], but that's not the only way to access the Folger's unified collections. Our interface relies upon a GraphQL API available to all comers at https://collections.folger.edu/graphql.
-An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a way for programs to talk to each other. (Or, sometimes, for dedicated individuals to talk to computer programs.) GraphQL (<nowiki>https://graphql.org/</nowiki>) offers an approach to APIs that lets the requestor define what's returned.
+An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a way for programs to talk to each other. (Or, sometimes, for dedicated individuals to talk to computer programs.) [https://graphql.org GraphQL] offers an approach to APIs that lets the requestor define what is returned.
-One of the real pleasures of working with GraphQL is it is largely self-documenting. Usually when programmers use that phrase, it means they're too busy to describe how their system works. In this, case, however, the kind folks who built GraphQL did a lot of work to support our laziness. The best way to explore a GraphQL API endpoint is using the very cool GraphiQL, (<nowiki>https://github.com/graphql/graphiql</nowiki>) which provides an interface for writing queries, receiving replies, and, best of all, exploring the types of queries the system can answer.
+[[:File:Miranda API Introduction (1).pdf|Read our API guide]] written by the technical team at ParsonsTKO. Please note that this version was written in accompaniment to our Miranda beta launch, and represents work done so far. It is not final documentation.
-Read our API guide. Please note: This version was written prior to our Miranda beta launch, and represents work done so far. We continue to work on and improve Miranda.