19 posts tagged with "apidoc"

We are pleased to announce that we have released the API sharing function in cloud with a unique link as part of JSight Online Editor release 4.0. This feature is a great addition to the ability to export documentation in a single HTML file. You may now choose whether to download the documentation as HTML or store it in the cloud using a unique URL.

Sharing documents via a link will provide you with three fantastic benefits:

1. Quickly share and discuss an API description with a colleague.
2. Store API documentation in the JSight cloud.
3. View the entire history of document modifications. (You can always revert to any previous version of the API by simply decreasing the version number in the link. You can also easily find the most recent API version (more on that below).

Furthermore, there is no need to register anywhere to share via the link, and it is absolutely free.

How to use sharing effectively? There are a great many options, for example:

1. You can quickly design an API on the fly in a team, exchanging links with drafts with each other.
2. You can save all references to all your APIs in Confluence and always have access to the most recent versions of the documentation.
3. You can send a link to the client so that they always have access to the latest version of the API.

See how it works by following the unique API example link: https://editor.jsight.io/r/g6X2ajV/3

Sharing API instructions​

How to share documentation for the new API​

Sharing is done as follows:

1. Describe your API.
2. Press the “Share” button (top right).
3. In the window that appears, copy the unique link to this API.

You can now share this link with anyone, and be sure that the content of the link will never change.

How to update a previously shared API​

If you want to change the content of the link, then you need to create a new version of the API. It is done as follows:

1. Open an existing API link.
2. Make changes to the API description.
3. Press the “Share” button (top right).
4. Select “Update API” (under the “Share” button).
5. In the window that opens, copy the new permanent link. The only difference between the new and original links is the last digit, which represents the serial number of the API version. For example, if your API was saved with the link https://editor.jsight.io/r/qjxZ46a/1, then when you update this API, the new link will be https://editor.jsight.io/r/aL9pnjZ/2 (the last digit has changed from 1 to 2 – this is the version number).

This way you can create as many versions of your API as you want, and each will have its own unique link.

How to check the latest API version​

If you don’t know which API version is the most recent, then you can open the link in your browser without specifying the version, that is, without the last digit. For example, instead of the link https://editor.jsight.io/r/qjxZ46a/2, open the link https://editor.jsight.io/r/qjxZ46a/ (I deleted the number 2 at the end), and the system will automatically redirect you to the latest saved version of your API.

P.S. We are currently working on creating convenient social snippets. This will allow you to immediately see the title and other important parameters of the sent API in the chat when sending a unique link.

There is no more difficult choice than choosing between two equally good options.

We had to make hundreds of such decisions when developing the JSight language. Making a decision entails more than just choosing between two alternatives. It's not so much about the decision, as about the criteria for making decisions. Firstly, you need to understand why the existing decision criteria do not help you choose the right option. Then, you need to modify these criteria. After that, making the decision itself is no longer difficult.

Today we are going to share about one of such cases.

In most data structures, certain fields are mandatory while others are optional. This needs to be somehow marked in the data schema. In our case, there were two possible solutions: add either a rule required or a rule optional to the language:

{
  "id": 123     // {required: true}
  "name": "Tom" // {required: false}
}

Or this way:

{
  "id": 123     // {optional: false}
  "name": "Tom" // {optional: true}
}

The second question following the first is what should be the default value: required: true or required: false? And accordingly in the case of optional, optional: true or optional: false? When I see a property in an example of valid data, it intuitively seems to me that this property “should be”, unless otherwise stated. This means that by default, required: true or optional: false is correct. Then we have the following options:

{
  "id": 123
  "name": "Tom" // {required: false}
}

Or this way:

{
  "id": 123
  "name": "Tom" // {optional: true}
}

Which option do you prefer? Please write in the comments to this post, we are interested!

After comparing both options, we decided to rely on this criteria: which at first glance is perceived as faster and more in line with intuition?

The brain is used to interpret information in the simplest way. When we see the word required..., our initial assumption is that this property is required, since that is what the word required means. Then, reading the rule till the end required: false, we experience cognitive dissonance. We initially assumed that the field is required, but it turns out that required: false.

There is no cognitive dissonance in the case of optional: true. We see the word optional... and we automatically assume that this property is optional. Then we read the rule till the end optional: true and find confirmation of our initial thought.

So, considering how quickly the schema is intuitively perceived, optional fits better than required. However, another strong criteria works in favor of required: this word is more familiar to us, it is used, for example, in JSON-Schema, OpenAPI, RAML.

What is more important: convenience or habit? After long debates, we concluded that since we were creating a completely new language, convenience is more important, therefore we went with optional. Time will tell whether we were right or not.

We are happy to announce the release of a new version of JSight Online Editor 4.0..

The official release page is here.

Main feature of the release: You can now share API documentation via a unique link. All you need to do is click on the “Share” button and copy the link.

We also thought about versioning the API documentation. It can be done like this:

1. Open the API documentation via a unique link, for example, https://editor.jsight.io/r/NQBd0BA/1.
2. Make changes to the API.
3. Click on the “Share” button and select the option “Update API”.
4. Your changes are saved with a new link which has a new version number. The new link completely matches the first link, except for the last digit - the version number, which is increased by one https://editor.jsight.io/r/NQBd0BA/2.

Sharing documents via a link will provide you with three fantastic benefits:

1. Quickly share and discuss an API description with a colleague.
2. Store API documentation in the editor's cloud.
3. View the entire history of document modifications. (You can always revert to any previous version of the API by simply decreasing the version number in the link).

Another major update in release 4.0 is improved JSight syntax highlighting. Now the editor accurately highlights all the syntax features of the JSight API language.

Programmers are already lazy enough. Typing extra text is not their thing. Less code with more benefits!

Programmers are aesthetes. The code must be lovely. Beautiful code is inexplicable and must be experienced.

We are programmers. And have done everything we could to make the JSight language concise and beautiful. And finally, it looks like we’ve got it!

For example, see what a simple API on JSight looks like:

JSIGHT 0.3

GET /cats/{id}
  200
    {
      "id"   : 123,   // {min: 0}
      "name" : "Tom"
    }

Any programmer, without requiring any explanation, will immediately and unmistakably understand what this API is about. Nothing superfluous! Every word, every letter has an important and precise sense.

Compare the same API on OpenAPI (Swagger):

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: ""
  version: ""
paths:
  /cats/{id}:
    get:
      parameters:
      - name: id
        in: path
        required: true
        schema: {}
      responses:
        200:
          description: ""
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                required: [id, name]
                properties:
                  id:
                    type: integer
                    minimum: 0
                    example: 123
                  name:
                    type: string
                    example: "Tom"

Doesn't this code seem redundant, to put it mildly?

We’re not criticizing OpenAPI. We’ve previously used it a lot and truly love it. But the world is moving forward and outdated technologies have to give way to new ones. It's time to move on to JSight, which is both concise and beautiful.

You can try out the JSight language right now: editor.jsight.io!

Learn more about JSight in a quick tutorial and in the official specification.

We plan to release a new version of JSight Online Editor by the end of May 2022. Among other minor improvements, there will be two new important features:

1. Smart syntax highlighting, which will allow you to write code in JSight even faster.
2. Sharing API documentation using a link.

Sharing documents via a link will provide our users with three fantastic benefits:

1. Quickly share and discuss an API description with a colleague. You simply need to follow three steps: describe the API, copy the URL, and send the link to a colleague in a chat.
2. Store API documentation in the editor's cloud. Do not forget to save a permanent link to the document in someplace safe.
3. View the entire history of document modifications. The unique version number in the link itself updates whenever the API documentation changes. For example, if the URL to the first version of the API was https://editor.jsight.io/r/pPeJazR/1, the link to the following version would be https://editor.jsight.io/r/pPeJazR/2 (only the last digit changes). So you can always revert to any previous version of the API by simply decreasing the version number in the link.

Thank you for your attention! Along with you, we are also looking forward to the release and your feedback on the new features.

We have a good tradition of matching upcoming releases in line with the wishes of our clients. One more case: at the request of our clients, we took up the task of developing support for JSON-RPC 2.0 standard.

Let’s reveal a little mystery. We intended the JSight language to be designed not only for REST API documentation, but also for support of other popular data exchange methods (JSON-RPC, gRPC, Kafka, RabbitMQ, WebSocket, etc.).

We are beginning with JSON-RPC 2.0 since:

1. JSON-RPC 2.0 is a very popular standard that is frequently chosen by developers when RPC architecture is preferable to REST.
2. It is a very simple standard that could quickly be supported by our team.

At the moment, we have prepared amendments to the JSight language specification and designed the user interface. In the next few days, we will begin development.

Code example describing JSON-RPC methods:

JSIGHT 0.3

URL /api/rpc
  Protocol json-rpc-2.0

  Method createCat // Create a cat.
    Params
      {
        "cat": @cat
      }
    Result
      {
        "id": 1 // Cat’s id.
      }

  Method getCat // // Get a cat by its id.
    Params
      {
        "id": 1 // Cat’s id.
      }
    Result
      @cat

TYPE @cat
{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Tom"
}

The code is really simple and clear, isn’t it?

Design example:

We plan to release JSON-RPC support by the end of June 2022.

Enjoy JSight Online Editor, follow the news, and share your ideas to support@jsight.io!

Hi everybody! We have a new release of JSight Online Editor 3.0! The official release page may be found here: JSight Online Editor 3.0 Release Notes.

There are two cool features in this version:

Firstly, “Preview” and “Export” buttons are added. By using these buttons, you can see the final API documentation design and, if you like it, download it in HTML format.

Secondly, we have added macros support into the JSight language. And it's really very cool! JSight now looks like a true programming language (programmers will understand us). With the directive MACRO, you may now declare a macro, and with the directive PASTE, you may paste this macro anywhere in your API an unlimited number of times. Macros are useful, for instance, for quick attachment of standard responses to each resource in case of an error. As an example:

GET /cats

  200 [@cat]
  PASTE @commonErrors

GET /dogs

  200 [@dog]
  PASTE @commonErrors

MACRO @commonErrors
(
  400 any
  401 any
  405 any
  500 any
)

You can read more about the directives MACRO and PASTE in the JSight language specification:

• Directive MACRO,
• Directive PASTE,
• and also in the Quick Tutorial.

We have also improved the UX in some places and fixed a few minor bugs.

We plan to release the next version of JSight Online Editor 4.0 by the end of May. The main innovation of this version will be the “Share” button. With this button, you will be able to save documentation in the cloud and share it with colleagues just by sending them a unique link to the document.

We also hope to add JSON-RPC support to the JSight language in the near future.

Many of you have requested that API documentation be shared in the JSight Online Editor via a unique URL. That was already in our plans, but considering your request, we decided to address this task earlier. The backend is complete, as well as the requirements specification for the frontend. Right now, we are creating its design. We plan to complete this feature by the end of April 2022.

We considered various UI options, and finally we liked the sharing option made by the guys at https://regex101.com/ (a service for working with regex).

The advantages of this solution:

1. All URLs are permanent. The contents of a unique link never change. This saves us from having to deal with a lot of complexity in the user interface.
2. If you need to change the code in the URL, you can simply create a new version of that URL. For example, you received a link https://editor.jsight.io/r/pPeJazR/1. Once you make edits into the code and save the new version, the new URL turns into https://editor.jsight.io/r/pPeJazR/2 (note that the version number at the end of the link is changed). The following version will include the number 3: https://editor.jsight.io/r/pPeJazR/3 , and so on.

This method is very convenient. Just by looking at the URL, you will understand the version number of your API, and you can always check what was in previous versions just by decrementing the URL version number.

Enjoy JSight Online Editor and share your ideas with us. Your feedback is important to us!

We’re starting a series of posts about the key features of the JSight language, which set it apart from all other API description languages and make describing API easier and faster.

Today, we’ll discuss the main feature, which we refer to as “Example as a schema”.

Any API description language describes data schemas in one way or another. For example, WSDL uses XSD to describe data, Blueprint API uses JSON Schema, and OpenAPI uses Schema Object.

The JSight API language uses the JSight Schema language to describe data. The JSight Schema approach, on the other hand, is fundamentally different from any other method of describing schemas. Now we'll tell you about this difference.

In 2020, Swagger interviewed over 3,000 IT specialists, asking them to name the top 5 most important things they seek in API documentation. What do you think the most popular ones were among the respondents? 70% of the respondents answered that they need EXAMPLES.

Unlike all other languages, the JSight Schema language primarily focuses on sample data. And this is completely justified. Programmers love examples! After all, most of the time, just looking at the example is enough to figure out what the data structure is.

In the JSight Schema language, the data example is already a data schema. For example, here is the simplest schema for you:

{
    "id": 123,
    "name": "Tom"
}

It is obvious from this schema that the data must be an object with an “id” property of type integer and a “name” property of type string. And if you need to add additional requirements to the schema that are not obvious from the sample data, then these requirements can be placed in a small JSON in the comments to the property:

{
    "id": 123, // {min: 1}
    "name": "Tom"
}

In the given diagram, it is added that the value of the “id" property must be greater than or equal to one.

For comparison, a similar schema in the OpenAPI language will look like this:

 type: object
 required: [id, name]
   properties:
     id:
       type: integer
       minimum: 1
       example: 123
     name:
       type: string
       example: "Tom"

Do you notice any differences?

On JSight, the schema is simpler, shorter and more appealing to the eye.

You can learn more about JSight Schema in our tutorial and in language specification.