Abstract

The JISC funds research and innovation programmes in the use of ICT in teaching, learning and in the building of knowledge and service development. Recent JISC programmes have supported development in the provision of machine interfaces and use of services and the JISC recognises that use and provision of APIs by developers working on JISC-funded projects is on the increase. The Good APIs project was initiated as a review of API activity in the Higher Education arena. This report is primarily a management report. It is an account of the Good APIs project methodology through two key consultation mechanisms: an online survey of and interviews with the HE developer community. Based upon the information gathered it offers a background to API use in the UK HE sector, the potential benefits of the provision of APIs and the challenges this provision can instigate. The report also reviews potential problems developers can face when using third-party APIs. Through the consultation carried out a set of best practice techniques for API creation and consumption were established, these are provided in a second report. Some conclusions have been tentatively drawn from the work carried out and a small set of recommendations made for JISC. The key recommendation is that to better support developer activities more work is need in this area (wider consultation etc.) To support these recommendations a larger number of suggestions for future work have been provided. A significant number of ideas for potential topics for future JISC reports have also been made available in the form of an appendix.