API Code Samples via Gists

by Kin Lane on 10/28/2012

Code samples in a variety of languages are how API owners help developers understand an API in the language that makes the most sense to them.

Not all developers will understand REST, HTTP and other things you might take for granted. Very simple code samples will help demonstrate an APIs functionality, making the learning process a hands-on experience.

Github provides a very lightweight tool for publishing API code samples, that can be embedded on any website, called Gists. You can easily copy / paste a working code sample into a Gist and Github returns a lightweight, embeddable JavaScript that you can use in documentation, blog posts and any where you will need to share with users.

Github Gists can be a much sexier, and easier to implement alternative to html <code> tags. While also allowing easy management and versioning of API code samples alongside Github API SDK repositories.