Warning: This page is about Google's older APIs, the Google Data APIs; it's relevant only to the APIs that are listed in the Google Data APIs directory, many of which have been replaced with newer APIs. For information about a specific new API, see the new API's documentation. For information about authorizing requests with a newer API, see Google Accounts Authentication and Authorization.
Getting Started with the Google Data Client Libraries
Getting Started with the Google Data PHP Client Library (October 2008)
The Google Data PHP Client Library is a powerful collection of classes that allow you to interact with the Google Data APIs. Unlike our other client libraries, it is packaged as part of the popular Zend Framework but can also be downloaded separately. Similar to our other client libraries it is also open-source and designed to be simple and efficient, allowing you to get started on your projects quickly ...
Getting Started with the Google Data Java Client Library (September 2007)
It's never easy to start developing with an unfamiliar API, so this article has step-by-step instructions on how to download and install the Google Data Java Client Library. I'll go through getting all of the dependencies and setting the environment variables you'll need...
Getting Started with the Google Data Python Library (August 2007)
So you've decided to use the Google Data Python client library to write an application using one of the many Google Data services. Excellent choice! My aim with this short tutorial is to quickly get you started in using the client library to develop your application...
Getting Started with the .NET Client Library (August 2007)
In this article, I have pulled together some step-by-step instructions for how to begin with the .NET client library using either Visual Studio 2005 for Windows or Mono for Linux and other Unix operating systems. It is my hope that this will save you some time in getting started and let you quickly start working with some code...
Authentication
Using OAuth with the Google Data APIs (September 2008)
Recently, all of the Google Data APIs adopted support for OAuth, an open protocol that aims to standardize the way desktop and web applications access a user's private data. OAuth provides a means of performing secure API authentication in a standard and secure fashion. As programmers, we're taught to reuse code wherever possible. OAuth will help developers reduce the amount of duplicate code they write and make it easier to create tools that work with multiple services from a variety of different providers...
Using AuthSub with the .NET Client Library (August 2007)
A tutorial highlighting how to use AuthSub for web apps authentication in the .NET client library. Web applications that need to access services protected by a user's Google or G Suite (hosted) account can do so using the Authentication Proxy service. To maintain a high level of security, the proxy interface, called AuthSub, enables the web application to get access without ever handling their users' account login information...
Other Libraries
Coding in the Shade: Using Eclipse with Google Data APIs (April 2008)
Eclipse is a very handy (and free!) IDE that has a special place in the hearts of many Java programmers. It is not a surprise then, that you might want to use it with the Java client library to make a killer Java application that works with one of the Google Data APIs...
Using Ruby with the Google Data APIs (April 2008)
Ruby is a dynamic scripting language that has received a good amount of attention in recent years due to the popular Rails web-development framework. This article will explain how to use Ruby to interact with Google Data API services. We will not focus on Rails, instead we are more interested in explaining the underlying HTTP commands and structure of our feeds. All of the examples presented here can be followed from the command line by using irb, Ruby's interactive shell...
Google Data on Rails (February 2009)
My colleague Jeff Fisher has written a helpful Google Data APIs Ruby utility library to make life easier for Ruby developers. This article discusses using his library to build a comprehensive Ruby on Rails application that communicates with Google Data services. A sample application using the Documents List API is provided.
REST for the Traveling Salesman: Using Google Data on Salesforce.com (November 2007)
Salesforce.com and Google host popular "Software as a Service" applications and both organizations provide APIs that allow developers to access the large stores of data that power these applications-and things start to get interesting when we combine both sets of APIs. G Suite continues to be used more and more in the enterprise setting and Salesforce.com has built an extensive platform for building custom business applications, so there are many opportunities for developers (that's you!) to combine the power of Google and Salesforce.com...
Using cURL to interact with Google Data services (September 2007)
At heart, Google Data APIs use Atom feeds and entries (XML) as a data format and HTTP as a protocol for data transmission - extending the Atom Publishing Protocol. cURL is a command-line application for performing requests using a variety of protocols including HTTP. cURL is often used by developers to test Google Data services, as it supports the HTTP functionality required to interact with the APIs at a low level...
Debugging Tips
On the Wire: Network Capture Tools for API Developers (June 2007)
This article introduces several tools that can help make the data on the wire more visible and useful. Commonly called "packet sniffers," these tools capture all network packets that move across your network interface. Examining the contents of these packets and the order in which they were sent and received can be a useful debugging technique...
Living Vicariously: Using Proxy Servers with the Google Data API Client Libraries (June 2007)
This article is discusses setting up and working with HTTP proxy servers using the Google Data client libraries.
Debugging Google Data API Clients: Exploring Traffic from Within your Program (June 2007)
For this article, I've written sample diagnostic code in 3 languages using the Google Data API client libraries for Java, .NET, and Python. In each example, I turn on logging or debugging, authenticate using client login, and then get a list of my Google Spreadsheets and print out their titles...
Gadgets
Creating a Google Data Gadget (October 2008)
A walk-through for creating a gadget using the Blogger Data API. Gadget developers can now take advantage of the OAuth Proxy, which hides much of OAuth's authentication details and does the heavy lifting for you. The Proxy signs data requests on behalf of your gadget, so there's no need to manage private keys or worry about signing requests...