Mashup

This article is currently being developed as part of an Eduzendium student project. One of the goals of the course is to provide students with insider experience in collaborative educational projects, and so you are warmly invited to join in here, or to leave comments on the discussion page. However, please refrain from removing this notice. Besides, many other Eduzendium articles welcome your collaboration!

Technology

Mashups have received considerable attention in recent years. An enabling factor is probably the fact that Web 2.0 in the enterprise is gaining traction. Web 2.0 embodies the belief that the World Wide Web is breaking away from its origins and evolving into the next stage of human interaction with a computer and the global community. The concept encourages collaboration, reusability, personalization and standardization, which are properties that have fostered the development of mashups – one of the many trends in Web 2.0 (others include blogging, wikis, podcasting, etc). Gradually, the Web is becoming a distribution network of content and service as evidenced by mashups.

Another factor could be that Web browsers have better Ajax support, which implies increased speed. Desktop applications would be much more attractive to businesses than Web based services if the latter are extremely slow.

Also, open-source code has grown more popular. The implication is that many more people are getting involved in developing contents that can be used by the general public.

Mashup Sources

The sources of content used by mashups are disparate and often controlled by different parties. The most popular sources of mashup information are

• Open APIs e.g. Google Maps, Amazon, eBay
• Information feeds e.g. Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
• XML over HTTP and web pages

API

An Application Programming Interface (API) enables the creation of a web-based mashup by providing a means of gaining access (rules and procedures) to an application or content e.g. Google Maps. This allows for compatible software. APIs should be made as simple as possible if their use is to be encouraged.

APIs can be

• Proprietary, in which case their use would require the payment of a fee and the signing of a license agreement.
• Open , hence available to anyone to use for free. However, there might still be binding terms and conditions, a limit to the number of calls that the mashup may make to the provider.

Popular websites that offer open APIs include Amazon.com, AOL, eBay, Google, MapQuest, MSN, Shopping.com, UPS.com, US Postal service.

The contents of a web site that lacks an open API can still be accessed via a process referred to as screen scraping, in which unstructured text is pulled from a website.

Types of Mahups

• Consumer Mashups - mashups that combine visual elements and data from multiple sources.
• Data Mashups - mashups that combine multiple data sources (e.g. RSS feeds) into a single data source.
• Business Mashups - similar to consumer mashups, but solve business problems. Many enterprises are embracing mashups for various reasons. Some need their software systems to change often to keep up with the rapid rate at which their business needs change. Such businesses find mashups an attractive solution – they make use of available components that have been developed and tested, and can launch their software in shorter time as compared to if they had to build from scratch. Some other businesses do not have the resources or competences required to develop some applications and thus are eager to incorporate such.