Python Library for University of Waterloo Open Data API

April, 06 2012

Open Data is awesome.

I think there is real value in information made available through flexible standards such as JSON for build the next generation of useful web experiences.

The Open Data initiative at the University of Waterloo has gathered their api at api.uwaterloo.ca which gives you access to courses, parking, and the weather.

I created a Python library to wrap the API to make it even easier to use:

https://bitbucket.org/amjoconn/uwaterlooapi*

*github version to come soon

>>> from uwaterlooapi import UWaterlooAPI
>>> uw = UWaterlooAPI(api_key="YOUR API KEY")
>>> uw.weather()
{u'Date': u'04-01-2012', u'Current': {u'Windchill': u'NA', u'Temp': u'4.1', ...

I was bit surprised not to find a Python library designed to make building REST API wrappers easier. My approach, like most API wrappers, is a good start, but lacks the elegance of a solution applied to many different instances of the problem.

Let me know if you create something using this library.


Tweet comments, corrections, or high fives to @amjoconn