---
layout: post
title: Which API Do I Need?
sourceurl: http://apievangelist.com/2014/08/25/which-api-do-i-need/
image: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kinlane-productions2/google/developers-logo.svg
tags:
- API Evangelist
- APIs
- Data
- Documentation
- Google
- Mapping
---
I was looking around the Google Developer area as part of some regular work, and I noticed an interesting page Google has under their mapping session, that [help users decide which API they need](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/api-picker) based upon their goals.

As the page says: "_The API picker lists the most common things you may want to do on a map or with location-based data, and suggests the API that most suits your needs. For details about each API, follow the links to the related documentation._"

[![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/kinlane-productions2/google/which-api-do-i-need.png)](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/api-picker)

I don't think that the table layout Google uses is a particularly good one, resulting in a pretty busy looking matrix. I don't think it is a perfect solution, but I like the idea of providing developers with some sort of assistance in understand which API to use, based upon their goals.

This is something that a larger API provider would probably do, but a simple little needs calculator that could help users translate what they are looking for into what the API does, is an interesting concept to play with for some API providers.