Yay! The ExoAPI I proposed to be included as a challenge to the INTERNATIONAL SPACE APPS CHALLENGE has just been posted. For now I just wanted to get the word out and encourage anyone and everyone to support this endeavor and share their ideas to help create an ExoAPI, a platform that will allow any programmer to grab exoplanet data and create mashups that is accessible on the internet.
The exoplanet era is upon us. And data about exoplanets are growing at a massive pace. However, most of that data are not being harnessed to its full potential. Most of it are locked into private databases that are scattered. The ExoAPI goal will allow us to harness these exoplanet datasets by making it accessible in a streamlined fashion.
Web Programmers like to create mashups and the first thing that must be done is to create accessible datasets. Currently, the most popular format on the web is JSON and the way to go about it is via AJAX or RESTful interface using javascript. If we are able to provide this capability to access exoplanet data in a RESTful way, it would allow web programmers to create fun and interesting things with exoplanet data.
With the exoAPI, programmers will be able to create mashups, games, visualizations, mobile apps, and an interface to allow the public to participate in research and discovery. The possibilities are endless! So please. Join this endeavor and lets move onwards to brave new worlds!
Note: For those who have a background in coding, I would like to encourage you to contribute a few cycles of your brain processing power to a worthy cause that has something to do with space and the future. I encourage you to participate in the International Space Apps Challenge. Please sign up and browse through all the other challenges and look to see where your talents could most likely be helpful.
