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"So basically, if I had established a more rigid structure for acceptable wand use, obtained more spells (not just free ones because you get what you pay for), and provided concentrated "how do I inspire learning with wands?" training, then things would have gone much better our first year. What implementation advice do you have to share? Please tell us in the comment section below."

Ben W unpacks the world of APIs. He touches on their purpose and what they mean for the personal user. "The biggest reason to use APIs is to avoid re-inventing the wheel as a software developer. You're probably not going to build your own fully-featured mapping application, so if you need a map in your software, it makes sense to integrate Google Maps or OpenStreetMap. You don't want to build your own credit card processor (trust me), so it makes sense to use Stripe. You're going to have a hard time building a market of millions of enterprise software users, so you're going to piggyback on Slack. And so on. APIs present a pragmatic solution that allows us to build on other software while saving on short-term costs. They're not a magic wand, but used wisely, they allow us to build entirely new products and services. And maybe - just maybe - they will allow us to take control of our digital lives and build a new kind of internet."