This repository contains the source code for the workbook Unlocking Data: A Gentle Introduction to APIs, presented at the UC Love Data Week 2025. You can access the workbook published version here: https://jairomelo.com/intro2APIs/.
The workbook introduces the fundamentals of working with APIs through explanations, interactive examples, and practical use cases.
The book is built with Quarto and relies heavily on Observable JS to provide live, interactive content.
Because we require API keys to run the examples, the book is build using Github Actions. If the repository is fork, be sure to set the API keys in the Github Actions secrets. See _environment.required file to know which API keys are required to make the examples work.
Publications are done using the .github/workflows/publish.yml file, which is triggered by a push to the main branch, and deploy the book to the gh-pages branch. The gh-pages branch must exist before the first publication and be set as the branch to build and deploy your Github Pages site.
We opt for execute the code as part of a Github Action, because it allows us to fetch the data from external sources. Updated computations are still stored in _freeze folder, and it's recommended using a Python virtual environment to run Quarto and install the required packages using requirements.txt file.
- Some Observable JS (OJS) code may not execute correctly during local builds. This issue arises because accessing environment variables in Quarto with OJS is not straightforward. As a result, there is a risk that API keys could inadvertently be exposed in the build output.