Please review my Format Phone Numbers API (maziesoftware.com/api)

http://www.maziesoftware.com/api

by perucoder • 16 years ago

1 7 16 years ago

maziesoftware.com

perucoder4• 16 years ago

This is my first attempt at creating an API and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

e1ven2• 16 years ago

Why is this an API, rather than just a Library (In JS or what have you?)

Formatting telephone numbers is useful, but I don't see why people would want to call an external service to do it.

perucoder4• 16 years ago

I chose an API as I thought this would be the best way to offer this. Formatting phone numbers is incredibly difficult and is something that changes over time, so the code needs to be updated. What would some of the benefits be of doing this as a Library vs API?

duck• 16 years ago

The big one - will maziesoftware.com be around next month? Next year?

e1ven2• 16 years ago

Off the top of my head-

I don't know if your service will be around later on. I don't know if you will change the licensing terms. I don't know if your server might be off for maintenance.

Those are basic things, but what it comes down to is that I don't have control over your offering. Why would I add so many dependencies, when I can do it locally, and KNOW it'll work.

On top of that, there's practical questions-

Why add latency for a round-trip request, when I could do it locally quicker? What if I need to tweak your formatting? If it's a local lib, I can open the source code and add new types myself.

Sure, I might need to change code if a new type of telephone number is invented (??) but people release new versions of libraries, too.

It's cool to learn how to write an API, but I can't think of many sane people who would use yours in production.

Please review my Format Phone Numbers API (maziesoftware.com/api)

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