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Google Releases an API for Their Database

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the now-thats-a-good-idea dept.

Ben Wills writes "Yahoo! announced that Google Released an API last Thursday. "The service, launched Thursday, is called Google Web APIs, for application programming interfaces. The tools let noncommercial software developers "query more than 2 billion Web documents directly from their own computer programs," according to Google's Web site. For now, the service is free." Google just keeps pushing the limits."

4 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. for those who don't like Yahoo... by WebMasterJoe · · Score: 3, Informative

    I try not to give Yahoo any more hits after they messed up their privacy poolicy, so here's the same exact story on CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-882252.html.

    --
    I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
  2. Heh, Google faster than Microsoft. Perfect timing. by Baki · · Score: 5, Informative
    Microsoft, claiming everyone should use .NET to be able to use web services (WSDL) just announced their first web service (mappoint) but google beats them. Plus, google shows you don't need .NET but can just as well use Java to make use of XML web services. MSFT must be quite pissed because of this, google stealing the web services show for now.

    Apart from that I think it is a pity that noone comes up with a Corba-over-HTTP standard. As an API, Corba IDL is nicer and more compact than WSDL, and all tool support is already there. WSDL offers no advantages over Corba. The only difference is the use of XML instead of (easy) IDL, and using HTTP as transport mechanism. Corba is transport mechanism independant; current implementations mostly use IIOP, but one could just as well implement Corba using HTTP as transport. Hell, you could even use some XML-over-HTTP as transport, to satisfy all XML freaks that think any machine-to-machine data nowadays should be human readable.

    The only justification for XML web services is that MSFT hates Corba (because of their Not Invented Here syndrome they invented COM+ to compete, also helping vendor lock in) thus they had to come up with something else; switching to Corba would mean they loose their face.

  3. Sounds familiar by Jaeger · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm glad the army of highly-trained rodents that processes Slashdot submissions was able to catch these reduntant stories. We've seen this a few times before:

    The first story even included a link to the API page on Google's site.

  4. Re:Heh, Google faster than Microsoft. Perfect timi by hgh · · Score: 3, Informative

    google shows you don't need .NET but can just as well use Java to make use of XML web services

    Of course anybody who has any background knowledge of web services knows that pretty much any language with text manipulation can be used to create web services. The point of .NET is not that it is the only way of creating web services but rather it makes creating them a lot easier; WSDL, DISCO, SOAP, etc. are abstracted away to make the developing web services easier. Yon don't need to know the bare protocol to start coding (of course it always helps).

    WSDL offers no advantages over Corba. The only difference is the use of XML...

    The use of XML is an advantage. XML is easy to use, and is an open standard. Although binary specs are slightly more efficient in transfer time and space requirements, this is becoming more and more negligible. More important is a developer's time. It is a lot easier to use and debug and text-based spec like XML than a binary spec.

    The only justification for XML web services is that MSFT hates Corba

    Maybe before you spout worthless anti-msft drivel you should research the origins of Web Services. Check out this article by Tim Berners-Lee for a quick intro.

    hgh