I had an exchange about my previous post with an RDF expert who explained to me that API’s are not like RDF and it would be incorrect to try to equate them. She’s right – API’s do not replace the need for RDF, nor do they replicate the functionality of RDF. API’s do provide access to data, but that data can be in many forms, including XML bound RDF. This is one of the pleasures and priviledges of writing on this blog: the audience contributes at a very high level of discourse, and is endowed with extremely deep knowledge about the topics under discussion.
I want to reiterate my point with a new inflection. By suggesting that API’s were an alternative to RDF, I was trying to get at a point that had more to do with adoption than functionality. I admit, I did not make the point well. So let me make a second attempt: API’s are about data access, and that, currently (and from my anecdotal experience) is where the value proposition lies for the new breed of web services. You have your data in someone’s database. That data is accessible to developers to manipulate and represent back to you in new, innovative, and useful ways. Most of the attention in the webdev community is turning towards the development of new interfaces—not towards the development of new tools to manage and enrich the data (again, anecdotal evidence only). Yes, there are people still interested in semantic data; we are indebted to them for continuing to improve the way our systems interact at a data level. But the focus of development has shifted to the interface. API’s make the gathering of data as simple as setting parameters, leaving only the work of designing the front-end experience.
Another note on RDF from my exchange: it was pointed out that practitioners of RDF prefer not to read it in XML, but instead use Notation 3 (N3), which is undeniably easier to read than XML. I don’t know enough about N3 to make a proper example, but I think you can get the idea if you look at the examples here and here.