17 ms·

Should creating email accounts have an API? How would the captcha be presented? How about adding reviews of products?

scottjackson 17y ago
I don't personally know because I'm just a peon with a qwerty keyboard, but I think there are some great developers and talented architects out there who could figure it out and make it happen.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
silentbicycle 17y ago
Don't captchas and open APIs fundamentally oppose each other? The point of an API is to have a clear interface so that programs can be built on a service, and captchas exist to try to block bots from using services.
- tocomment 17y ago
  That's my point. Not everything <should> have an API since there are so many things we put captchas around.
grncdr 17y ago
That would be an easy API to implement, in psuedo-code: do: server->return any errors client->display errors client->ask user for account name client->server->request account name x while ( server->x is invalid account name ) << Repeat above loop for password >> do: server->return new captcha client->display captcha client->take user input client->server->send captcha text while(server->captcha does not match) server->return success message
- stuartjmoore 17y ago
  Web browsers display CAPTCHAs every day with an API known as HTML.
  - grncdr 17y ago
    Agreed. I can't justify a use case for CAPTCHAs outside the browser, I was just pointing out that such an API is very conceivable. As silentbicycle said, a CAPTCHA is for preventing scripting, so you would (hopefully) still need a human somewhere in the process.
emmett 17y ago
Easy. One of the arguments to the create_email call would be a phone number or IM or existing email. The captcha would be mms'ed/im'ed/emailed (along with an explanation of what it's for), and the account would be created when the person replied with the correct response.

I don't personally know because I'm just a peon with a qwerty keyboard, but I think there are some great developers and talented architects out there who could figure it out and make it happen.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

silentbicycle 17y ago

Don't captchas and open APIs fundamentally oppose each other? The point of an API is to have a clear interface so that programs can be built on a service, and captchas exist to try to block bots from using services.

tocomment 17y ago
That's my point. Not everything <should> have an API since there are so many things we put captchas around.

grncdr 17y ago

That would be an easy API to implement, in psuedo-code: do: server->return any errors client->display errors client->ask user for account name client->server->request account name x while ( server->x is invalid account name ) << Repeat above loop for password >> do: server->return new captcha client->display captcha client->take user input client->server->send captcha text while(server->captcha does not match) server->return success message

stuartjmoore 17y ago
Web browsers display CAPTCHAs every day with an API known as HTML.
- grncdr 17y ago
  Agreed. I can't justify a use case for CAPTCHAs outside the browser, I was just pointing out that such an API is very conceivable. As silentbicycle said, a CAPTCHA is for preventing scripting, so you would (hopefully) still need a human somewhere in the process.

emmett 17y ago

Easy. One of the arguments to the create_email call would be a phone number or IM or existing email. The captcha would be mms'ed/im'ed/emailed (along with an explanation of what it's for), and the account would be created when the person replied with the correct response.