Professional Web APIs with PHP: eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon, FedEx plus Web Feeds (Paperback)

~ Paul Reinheimer (Author)
Key Phrases: trackback spam, small shaded hill, new soapclient, File Edit View, Bookmarks Tools Help, Instant Payment Notification (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

• Offers hands-on tips and numerous code examples that show Web developers how to leverage content and feeds from today's top Web sites-including Google, eBay, PayPal, Amazon, Yahoo!, and FedEx
• Introduces APIs (Application Program Interfaces) in general and uses real-world examples that show how to produce and document them
• Explains how to use the popular scripting language PHP to create APIs that interact with unrelated applications over the Web
• Examples take readers through each stage of the API process, from basic test implementations to integration with existing sites

From the Back Cover

As the only book that details how to integrate different APIs and web feeds in PHP so websites can leverage content from eBay, Google, PayPal, Amazon, and FedEx, this hands-on guide takes you step by step through each stage of the API process. Experienced PHP programmer Paul Michael Reinheimer walks you through the production and consumption angles of web feeds and discusses XML-feeds so that you can access one of the fastest growing trends on the web. With real-world examples covering everything from basic test implementations to integration with existing sites, you'll learn how to produce and document your own APIs, which will allow you to expand your sites and may even prompt you to re-examine how you structure your code.

What you will learn from this book

• How to add a third party API to your site or program one of your own
• Ways that a small ISP can use the Yahoo!® XML feed to publish recent technology on a site
• Why APIs are the preferred method for disparate applications to interact over the web
• Differences between the functions of APIs and web feeds and the benefits each has to offer
• The basic structure for REST and SOAP APIs

Who this book is for

This book is for programmers who have a strong understanding of PHP and are looking for detailed coverage of multiple APIs in PHP.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wrox (July 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764589547
• ISBN-13: 978-0764589546
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #475,191 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars APIs Demystified, August 22, 2006

By	Nathan Smith (SonSpring.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are looking for a good book describing how to make use of the various web services out there, look no further. Professional Web APIs with PHP is a compliation of several helpful tutorials covering the more popular web application programming interfaces (API) available. It was written by the talented Paul Michael Reinheimer, who is a Zend Certified Engineer and member of the PHP Security Consortium. He has done a great job covering what at times seems to be a somewhat esoteric topic. In his own words, here is the approach taken in this book:

"Every time I approached a new API, I was spending 80% of my time trying just trying to make the first call or two. Once those were out of the way subsequent calls were fast, and in many cases almost trivial to write. So I slowly refactored my book into a tool to help developers get through those first few difficult calls..."

I appreciated his dive-right-in approach to understanding the differing APIs. Considering that some of the large scale API documentation totals in the range of 500 pages each, the brevity and clarity of the book's explanations were a welcome contrast. He also covered some of the differences between REST and SOAP, and why some APIs give preference to one over the other.

The main APIs that are addressed are those which tend to be thought of as large and revenue driven - eBay, Google, PayPal, Amazon and FedEx. Other community oriented APIs such as Flickr and Del.icio.us are also covered, as well as the National Weather Service. As a lead in to all these topics, he covers the parsing of basic web feed formats like RSS and Atom, in order to give a general feel for dealing with XML data. Towards the end of the book, the necessary methods for creating your own API are demystified.

Another thing I liked is that this book doesn't spread itself too thin, attempting to be the end-all for API instruction by covering a smorgasbord of server side languages. Rather, it focuses solely on PHP and does quite a fine job of it. I find that approach so much more helpful. The likelihood of someone knowing one language well, and wanting to learn a variety of APIs is much better than someone wanting to learn a few APIs, in a ridiculous number of languages.

His site tagline says it best: "PHP: Because friends don't let friends code Java."

Reinheimer does well by avoiding the absurdity which plagues far too many programming books, instead opting to focus on what is applicable from a practical standpoint. So, whether you are looking to create an online book store that interfaces with Amazon, sell your own products via PayPal, or ship FedEx products that need to be tracked on the web, this book is for you. The thoroughly explained examples will get you on the right track in no time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Way to Get Started Quickly, September 26, 2006

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First note that the title of this book says 'PHP.' Everything in the book is oriented around PHP. If your bag is Java, or ASP.NET, or Cold Fusion, or Rails; go elsewhere. (If you are thinking about which of these to use I recommend you investigate PHP and Rails running on one of the Linux OS's before making a decision.)

Having said that, this is a most helpful book on getting started on using the web services provided by eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon and FedEx. Web services API's provide for a standardized way that the host allows you to use your computer to go extract information from them for (usually) display on your own web site.

The author is absolutely correct when he says that the hardest thing about any of these API's is making the first couple of calls. The documentation provided by the the hosting company is horrendous, often hundreds of pages long. This book leads you through the most commonly used, getting you started. After that you will find that getting to the rest of their services is fairly easy.

All in all, if you are planning to use web services on any of these hosts, this book will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort in getting started.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice for beginners, April 7, 2008

By	Joern Heller (Augsburg, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Web APIs will become more and more interesting as they provide quick and easy access to data and functions from widely known web service providers auch as Google, eBay and others. However, this book can only provide an overview - "making the first API call". It is therefore useable for beginner s.
The book is easy to read, helpful for the first steps and conatins enough scripts and examples to understand the features and see the possibilities for extension.
All together, useful but not detailed.