How You Can Employ Basic Reading Comprehension to Stay Sane Reading API Docs
How a grade-school reading technique can help you interpret and apply API documentation to build your data pipelines.
Using SQ3R to Understand API Documentation
When I first began working as a data engineer I had no idea how much reading comprehension my job would involve.
In acclimating to GCP, I inhaled BigQuery SQL documentation. And for as often as I return to it for data manipulation tips, Pandas’ documentation might as well be my home page.
But there is a particular kind of reading that I, and I’m sure other data engineers loathe: API documentation.
While APIs themselves are intuitive once you are properly authenticated, the process of searching through seemingly infinite pages of documentation can make sending a request difficult if you’re unsure how to navigate a specific vendor’s set up.
After working with countless APIs both professionally and for personal projects, I’ve come up with a rough process for reading and applying the concepts in API documentation.
Coming from a background as a tutor and working in education, the reading comprehension…
