We have moved from the original notion of a Web Site to what is now called a Web API.
Open Data Protocol – OData
Netflix just announced they have added a new API to their services using the OData protocol.
- http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/ = Atom XML
- http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/CatalogTitles = Atom feed returned with movie titles
- http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/Languages%28%27Japanese%27%29/CatalogTitles = Atom feed returning all movies in Japanese
- http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/$metadata = returns the metadata definitions that define what the data types are which are returned my the service
VS2010: Has an OData visualizer plugin
OData libraries are available for various platforms. No longer do you need to create proxies to attach to custom services you can simply use the OData library targeting the platform for which you are developing. There is an OData library for the iPhone. SharePoint 2010 is moving all lists to OData Atom feeds. Excel 2010 will now use OData services for Pivot tables and calculations. Microsoft has moved tons of products to implement or consume the OData protocol.
.Net OData library has been released under the Apache license and is available today for all to use. www.odata.org to get implemented libraries for various platforms.