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> RESTful APIs serving up JSON works for all 3, as does GraphQL (not a fan, but many are). This however is totally web-specific HTML is a machine-readable form

> RESTful APIs serving up JSON works for all 3, as does GraphQL (not a fan, but many are). This however is totally web-specific HTML is a machine-readable format, like XML and JSON. Have your back end represent a given resource as microformatted-semantic markup, send it gzipped over the wire, and you've got the data exchange you need, even if your mobile app isn't already dressed-up webview.

satyrnein 6y ago
Are you still referring to dedicated API routes, or are you talking about annotating your UI to the point where it can serve as the API as well? I remember the latter being the vision behind things like RDFa, but those approaches never took off, for a variety of reasons.
- wwweston 6y ago
  Either. Or both. :) Generally the projects I've felt best about have two features: 1) The API knows how to represent resources across multiple media types, usually including at least markup and JSON. 2) UI is well-annotated enough that developers and machines find it easy to orient themselves and find data. But you're quite right that this isn't common. I have my own guesses on the reasons why. My observation's been that the workflow and stakeholder decision making process on the UI side places semantic annotation pretty low on the priority side; most places you're lucky if you can get a style guide and visual UI system adopted. And there has to be cooperation and buy-in at that level in order for there to be much incentive to engineer and use a model/API-level way of systematic representing entities as HTML, which often won't happen. And TBH it is extra effort.
- TimTheTinker 6y ago
  > annotating your UI to the point where it can serve as the API as well At that point you might as well serve XML and use an XSLT transform (+ CSS) to render the view on the client (yes, this is still possible without JavaScript).

satyrnein 6y ago

Are you still referring to dedicated API routes, or are you talking about annotating your UI to the point where it can serve as the API as well? I remember the latter being the vision behind things like RDFa, but those approaches never took off, for a variety of reasons.

wwweston 6y ago
Either. Or both. :) Generally the projects I've felt best about have two features: 1) The API knows how to represent resources across multiple media types, usually including at least markup and JSON. 2) UI is well-annotated enough that developers and machines find it easy to orient themselves and find data. But you're quite right that this isn't common. I have my own guesses on the reasons why. My observation's been that the workflow and stakeholder decision making process on the UI side places semantic annotation pretty low on the priority side; most places you're lucky if you can get a style guide and visual UI system adopted. And there has to be cooperation and buy-in at that level in order for there to be much incentive to engineer and use a model/API-level way of systematic representing entities as HTML, which often won't happen. And TBH it is extra effort.
TimTheTinker 6y ago
> annotating your UI to the point where it can serve as the API as well At that point you might as well serve XML and use an XSLT transform (+ CSS) to render the view on the client (yes, this is still possible without JavaScript).