API Documentation Workshop

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of STC (STC RMC) serves the various needs of its members by:Promoting professionalism and the exchange of information among its membersEducating the community on the value of technical communicationThe Society for Technical Communication's diverse membership includes writers, editors, usability professionals, information architects, illustrators, printers, publishers, educators, students, engineers, and scientists employed in a variety of technological fields. With thousands of members worldwide, STC is the largest professional organization serving the technical communication profession.

Society for Technical Communication Rocky Mountain Chapter

<H2><STRONG>API Documentation Workshop</STRONG></H2>
<P>REST APIs involve submitting requests and receiving responses, not too unlike visiting a web page. You make a request to a resource stored on a server, and the server responds with the requested information. HTTP is the medium for transporting the information. “REST” stands for representational state transfer.</P>
<P>In this workshop on documenting REST APIs, you’ll learn about API documentation in the context of using a simple weather API to put a weather forecast on your site. As you use the API, you’ll learn about curl, Postman, Chrome’s Developer Console, JSON, and other details associated with REST APIs.</P>
<P>After making requests to an API, we'll dive into each element of a reference topic in REST API documentation:</P>
<P><BR></P>
<UL>
<LI>Resource descriptions</LI>
<LI>Endpoints and methods</LI>
<LI>Parameters</LI>
<LI>Request example</LI>
<LI>Response example and schema</LI>
</UL>
<P><BR></P>
<P>We'll also explore how the OpenAPI specification (formerly called Swagger) can provide a standard for describing an API. The OpenAPI defines specific properties in a particular order and hierarchy covering each aspect of reference documentation, from endpoints to requests to security and responses. After you have a valid specification document, you can feed it into specific frameworks and platforms (such as Swagger UI, SwaggerHub, or Spectacle) to automatically generate interactive documentation.</P>
<P>We'll also dive into the non-reference sections in API documentation. These topics might include the following:</P>
<P><BR></P>
<UL>
<LI>Getting started tutorial</LI>
<LI>Authentication</LI>
<LI>Status and error codes</LI>
<LI>How-to code tutorials</LI>
<LI>Sample apps and client SDKs</LI>
</UL>
<P><BR></P>
<P>Finally, we’ll explore different ways to publish REST API documentation, looking at tools such as GitHub, Jekyll, and other docs-as-code approaches. You’ll learn how to choose the right source format, manage your content through version control, build from the server with continuous delivery, and more. </P>
<P>This workshop covers a broad range of topics, so the depth we go into with each area can vary based on the participants' questions and interests. My approach is to first learn what questions and information needs participants have and then give emphasis to those areas. Questions and discussion throughout will be welcome. We will do some hands-on activities during the workshop, but we won't get too detailed with technical activities, sticking more with high-level concepts and techniques.</P>
<H2>About the presenter</H2>
<P>Tom Johnson is a technical writer for Amazon in Sunnyvale, California. He writes a popular blog on technical writing called Idratherbewriting.com, where he explores topics such as API documentation, trends, information design, and more. He also has an extensive online course on API documentation (<A HREF="http://idratherbewriting.com/learnapidoc/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://idratherbewriting.com/learnapidoc/</A>) that includes extensive tutorials and other exercises you can follow to build your expertise with APIs, including the OpenAPI specification, Swagger, and more.</P>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<H3><STRONG>What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?</STRONG></H3>
<P>Far and away the easiest way to find the classroom is to take the light rail to the Auraria at Colfax stop. (This is only a few stops from the Broadway park and ride if you're coming from the south.) When you get off the light rail, you walk a few hundred yards into campus and the Central classroom building is on your right. It's the building with the covered walkway above the outdoor path.<BR><BR>If you don't take the light rail, then please make sure you download and look at the <A HREF="https://msudenver.edu/maps/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">campus map</A> before coming. Google maps directions will not take you to the correct building. There is a $4 charge for parking in any campus parking lot.<BR><BR>The nearest parking lot to the Central classroom is the <A HREF="https://goo.gl/maps/aKdnu3ZeUTo" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Nutmeg lot</A> [Google Map link], which is about a two minute walk from the classroom. From this lot, walk west, along St. Francis Way, towards the roundabout. From the roundabout, walk west on Champa street (away from Speer). The central classroom building has one door in the alley, facing East, and one on 10th street plaza, facing South.</P>
<P>The Tivoli parking garage is about a 10 minute, 1/2 mile walk from Central classroom. Directions from the garage to Central Classroom:</P>
<P><A HREF="https://goo.gl/maps/WUh1GREuv5z" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://goo.gl/maps/WUh1GREuv5z</A></P>
<P>Walk South East (away from Auraria Parkway) along the 10th street plaza. Continue past the library, to Curtis street. If you reach Champa street, you have gone too far.</P>
</DIV>
</DIV>

Metropolitan State University of Denver: Room CN113

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API Documentation Workshop

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API Documentation Workshop

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