overview of mashups

Mashups

Tonu Mikk

tonumikk at yahoo dot com

GrantFlow.com

Definition

• A mashup is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more external sources to create a new service.

Mashup components

• One data source or functionality

• Second data source or functionality

• New Web service

More…

• The term mashup implies easy, fast integration, frequently using open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and data sources to produce results that were not the original reason for producing the raw source data

Why mashups?

• Provides information in a useful way that was not possible or intended before.

The web application creation

Old way

• Hired out for a bunch of money

• Bad product

New way

• Open data

• Open architecture

• Citizen talent

• Little money

• Good product

Motivations for creators

For Government organizations

• Greater transparency

• Fills government mission to serve people

For individuals

• Fame

• Possible prize money

Enterprise mashups

For external use

• Information/service that serves the general public

For internal use

• Information or service that serves the internal functions of an enterprise

Enterprise mashup- a modern day MS Excel macro?

Mashup creation tools

• Yahoo Pipes

• Microsoft Popfly (no longer available)

• Google Mashup Editor (no longer available), replaced by Google App Engine

Every man’s tools

• Netvibes

• Zoho Creator

• Django framework (perhaps not every man’s)

What are you thinking about mashups?

• Are they useful?

• Are they necessary?

• Does your organization have some?

• Does it need some?

• How would you create them?

• Why would you create them?

• Who would create them?

Tonu Mikktonumikk at yahoo dot com