Mmm, Mmm, Mmm... Mashed Taters!

Every since I was little, mashed taters have been my weakness. My favorite kind are the instant kind. So simple, open a packet pour it in a pot and add milk. Ten minutes later, "PRESTO!" I have a tasty treat that will do exactly what its meant to do, satisfy my craving. Well, in the computer world there is what I would call the "mashed taters" of APIs. They are called mashups. A mashup is a web program that uses data from more than source or API and creates one integrated tool.

Just like a pot when making mashed taters, mashups also have tools to create a masterpiece of goodness. Wikipedia calls mashup editors a WYSIWYG for mashups. In layman terms, it is an interface that allows the user to create data points, usually by drag and drop, into a web program. There are several mashup editors that can be found amongst the internet. Here are some that I have found with video to help explain the use of a mashup editor: Yahoo! Pipes, Dapper, and QEDWiki.

Because there are a unlimited number of APIs available on the internet, mashup concepts are unlimited. This trend is still a fairly new concept, and in a few years mashups should dominate the internet. If you want to see some mashups in action, Webmashup.com has a huge list of sites that use mashups. So go ahead, take a look and play for a little while. Just be sure to check out the alarm that uses your favorite Youtube video. From time to time, I may have to use it for making my mashed taters.