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JavaScript

Posted by fediesonlandicho
fediesonlandicho
17,818 Points

What does an API (documentation) mean when it says, "will return JSON only" How does that limit my options?

If the documentation for an API states "will return JSON only" and "does not currently support JSONP" does that mean I can't build a website application? Does it mean the API is only meant for mobile apps?

1 Answer

Andrew Kiernan
Andrew Kiernan
26,892 Points

You can still use that api for web apps, however you need a webserver, and a back-end app to make it work. This is because you can't make a request from a browser directly to an api, as it is a security issue. So to use that api, your app would need to:

Make a request to your server > your server to the api > api response back to your server > your server responds to the browser.

The webserver stuff is what is circumvented if the API supports JSONP, but since the one you mention doesn't, you still need a server.

Hope that helps!

-Andrew

fediesonlandicho
fediesonlandicho
17,818 Points

Awesome thank you, that clears things up for me.