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by andybak 380 days ago
I just downloaded it and tried it and I still don't understand what it does.

It seems to be some kind of wysiwyg editor? With elements specific to API docs?

But then why does that make it an "API client". I'm guessing "API" specifically means HTTP API here. But "client" is completely throwing me. An API client is just software that talks to an API. So what's with the wysiwyg stuff?

Is it something like Jupyter notebooks?
1 comments
kiselitza 380 days ago
The Jupyter comparison isn't completely off base if you'd like to rationalise it that way. Similarity would be blending the code and the docs in a single file, where you can then also execute something.

By definition, API Client is a devtool that makes it easier for devs (& co.) to design, test, document, and debug APIs. If it's confusing, we can take it to Postman, but it's an industry standard, been that way for a long while.

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andybak 380 days ago
> By definition, API Client is a devtool that makes it easier for devs (& co.) to design, test, document, and debug APIs. If it's confusing, we can take it to Postman, but it's an industry standard, been that way for a long while.

That's not the definition of "API client" I'm familiar with. In fact it feels like a very specific definition of "API client" - which is a broad term that I am familiar with.

(Why does it sometimes feel like I am not getting the memos that everyone else is getting? It's like when a new job description for an old job suddenly appears and everyone pretends that what it's always been called!)

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kiselitza 380 days ago
Maybe you thought of an SDK-like client/wrapper for calling certain APIs, so it sounds natural to call it an API client? Here you can check a list of currently OSS API clients (competitors to Voiden - the tool I posted about) https://github.com/stepci/awesome-api-clients Will join the list soon after we go OSS too. :)
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andybak 379 days ago
I guess "API client" is often shorthand for "API client library" but that seems less of a stretch than using it to mean "App for calling, testing and documenting an API". A quick Github search seems to indicate that the former usage is more common in any case.
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