API Developer Profiling Using Github

by Kin Lane on 11/03/2012

One very powerful way to use Github within your API strategy is for developer profiling. This approach requires the deployment of another Github solution, API Developer login using Github.

After you implement authentication for you API using Github, the Github API provides a wealth of opportunity for you to learn more about developers.

The types of developers you want for your API are also developers who have an active Github profiles. Using Github, you can immediately tell if someone is an active developer based upon their presence and usage of the social coding network.

Github provides basic profile details, like where a developer lives and which programming language they use. You can also see which other tools and code they following and commit to, giving an overall profile of their developer lifestyle.

Using Github you will also be able to tell if a user has downloaded or forked your own API SDK's, giving you insight into how well your SDK"s are being received and used. There are endless ways you can use Github to stay in tune with your developers, but first you have to employ Github authentication as part of your API strategy--then get to work profiling developers, and better understand who they are.