Enterprise API support tool

Abstract

Web 2.0 has ushered the use of APis as a component to build mashups which combine content and services. This has contributed to a fundamental shift for developers - in addition to the very few traditional programming language APis, nowadays there is an overwhelming amount of public APis to learn and to use. Usually if a developer wants to start using an API, the first point of reference would be the API' s website. One would expect to find documentation about the API, sample code and a forum of developers making use of that APL Despite these facilities, the developer may still find it difficult to make use of the APL The documentation could be too long to read and not well-organized and the developer may not find sample code for the required functionality. Going through forum threads could be tedious and questions asked by the developer on the forum may not be answered within a reasonable amount of time. Our system attempts to create an infrastructure through which enterprises could provide better and more effective support for their APis. The enterprise would provide developers with a plug-in which would offer support for the API directly from the IDE. Whilst enhancing the support facilities available from the API' s website, it also introduces new tools which could help the developer in learning the API efficiently. Additionally, since the plug-in can support multiple APis, it also provides a standard way of accessing support facilities, hence making it easier for the developer to find the support they require immediately.