Intro the WordPress REST API by tomhermans

A fairly broad overview on what the REST API is, starting with explaining what an API is, what REST is, how it relates to the WWW, how it can be deployed and some functional demo's

Transcript

1. WP REST API intro / terms / logic / useage tomhermans.com
2. Hi, I’m Tom You might know me of … Sony Telenet freelance WP development get in touch : tomhermans.com
3. Question Time
4. term : API : Application Program Interface agreed set of standardized ways that a particular piece of software can be used; the rules defined for its interaction with the wider world, which govern how other pieces of software can talk to a program and how it will respond.
5. term : JSON: JavaScript Object Notation a way to store information in an organized, easy-to-access manner. In a nutshell, it gives us a human-readable collection of data that we can access in a really logical manner. var jason = { "age" : "24", "gender" : "male" };
6. term : SPA : Single Page Application is a web application or web site that fits on a single web page with the goal of providing a more fluent user experience The page does not reload at any point in the process.
7. WP REST API : A bit of history
8. WP API’s XML-RPC & friends (atom..) XML remote procedure call mobile app admin-ajax lightweight routing layer responds w/ JSON more dev tool - see previous presentation RSS open standard syndication format
9. RESTful API’s Twitter Facebook WordPress.com Stripe .. many more
12. What is REST ? REST = representational state transfer RESTful systems : • communicate via HTTP • same HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) like web browsers use • to retrieve web pages and to send data to remote servers.
13. REST Examples Pretty much everyone who claims to have a REST API, in fact, does not. Exception: WWW - the World Wide Web https://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch_style.htm
14. How is WWW restful ? Does your browser (the client) know whether it’s displaying a banking website or a casual game? Nope. It just utilizes standard media types (HTML, CSS, JS .. ) The web doesn’t know whether it is serving you a website for a bank or a game.
15. How does a HTTP request look like ?
16. so, REST uses HTTP to CRUD HTTP to CREATE data : POST HTTP to READ data : GET HTTP to UPDATE data : PUT (with an existing URI) HTTP to DELETE data : DELETE
17. Example sites https://feelingrestful.com/ http://quotesondesign.com/ http://www.michaelbromley.co.uk/ http://qz.com
18. Calypso / WordPress.com
19. What is Calypso Calypso = frontend admin for WP, written in JS with REST API to be used to read/write for WP.com and jetpack sites 1. better user experience - faster & being able to manage multiple sites 2. better dev experience - better tooling + how they deal with JS
20. Calypso how How does Calypso work ? > in a nutshell: Connects to WP.com via node.js, loads rest of JS, loaded async controllers render React components
21. Why is Calypso interesting ? interesting if you want to build a SPA based on WP REST API Do You: 1. have a lot of user interaction ? 2. need quick transitions between interactions ? 3. have multiple front ends ? web/mobile/desktop, powered by same data different mindset, user controls page content with interactions
22. DEMO time
23. So ... this is a start, obviously Different paradigm, different mindset, different useage, different tooling
24. Can I already use it ? Yes, but .. think about SEO, server-side rendering, JS dependencies, etc ..
25. Question Time More questions ? @tomhermans tomhermans.com/contact