GRAPH BASED DATA MODEL FOR API ECOSYSTEM INSIGHTS

• US 20150121401A1
• Filed: 02/14/2014
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Laredo, Jim A., Muthusamy, Vinod, Slominski, Aleksander, Srivastava, Biplav, Vukovic, Maja, Wittern, John E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,396,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention comprising a method captures information for a data structure, the information pertaining to Web APIs and Web API users. The method includes identifying a first set of relationships, wherein an identified relationship can be at least a relationship between a Web API and a Web API user, between different Web API users, or between different Web APIs. The method further includes furnishing the first set of relationships to the data structure as first captured information, and using the first captured information to perform a specified analysis operation. Prior to or during performance of the specified analysis operation, second information is added to the data structure wherein the added second information includes at least one of a user, a Web API, or a relationship that is not included in the first captured information, and the added second information does not affect performance of the specified analysis operation.

Claims

1. A method for capturing information for a data structure, wherein the information selectively pertains to Web application programming interfaces (APIs) and to users of Web APIs, and the method comprises the steps of:

identifying a first set of relationships, wherein an identified relationship can be at least a relationship between a Web API and a Web API user, a relationship between different Web API users, or a relationship between different Web APIs;

furnishing the first set of relationships to the data structure as first captured information;

using the first captured information to perform a specified analysis operation; and

prior to or during performance of the specified analysis operation, adding second information to the data structure, wherein the added second information includes at least one of a user, a Web API, or a relationship that is not included in the first captured information, and the added second information does not affect performance of the specified analysis operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data structure comprises a Web API graph core structure having nodes and edges, wherein a given node selectively comprises a Web API, an application, or a Web API user and a given edge comprises a relationship provided by the first captured information or the second added information, selectively.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

a new node or edge can be selectively added to the Web API graph, wherein an added node or graph includes added second information captured from a Web API ecosystem, and the Web API graph core structure includes at least one node or edge that can be selectively instantiated.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the Web API graph core structure has at least one node comprising a characteristic node, each characteristic node representing functionality or a non-functionality that is shared among multiple Web API nodes, selectively.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

a Web API user node has a contact relationship with each of one or more other users, and a Web API node has a connection relationship with each of one or more other Web APIs.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein:

respective nodes and edges have selected properties, and temporal information is captured for events that affect a given property.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data structure comprises a Web API graph having nodes and edges, wherein an edge comprises a relationship between two nodes, and a dataset comprising properties of respective nodes and edges is selectively represented in a specified property graph that represents data in a different form than the form of data representation used in the Web API graph.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the specified property graph comprises a resource description framework (RDF) graph, each property of respective nodes and edges of the Web API graph has a corresponding key-value pair, and the key-value pair of a given property is used to represent specified information pertaining to the given property in the RDF graph.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data structure comprises a Web API graph, which is provided as a service, and is made accessible by means of a specified interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the interface comprises a representational state transfer (REST) interface.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the specified analysis operation comprises using specified information captured for the data structure to execute a specified query, in order to acquire an insight pertaining to an ecosystem related to the specified information captured for the data structure.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a user of Web APIs comprises one or more of a Web API provider, a Web API consumer, and a Web API ecosystem provider.

13. A computer program product executable in a recordable storage medium for capturing information for a data structure, wherein the information selectively pertains to Web application programming interfaces (APIs) and to users of Web APIs, and the computer program product comprises:

instructions for identifying a first set of relationships, wherein an identified relationship can be at least a relationship between a Web API and a Web API user, a relationship between different Web API users, or a relationship between different Web APIs;

instructions for furnishing the first set of relationships to the data structure as first captured information;

instructions for using the first captured information to perform a specified analysis operation; and

instructions for adding second information to the data structure prior to or during performance of the specified analysis operation, wherein the added second information includes at least one of a user, a Web API, or a relationship that is not included in the first captured information, and the added second information does not affect performance of the specified analysis operation.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein:

the data structure comprises a Web API graph core structure having nodes and edges, wherein a given node selectively comprises a Web API, an application, or a Web API user and a given edge comprises a relationship provided by the first captured information or the second added information, selectively.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

a new node or edge can be selectively added to the Web API graph, wherein an added node or graph includes added second information captured from a Web API ecosystem, and the Web API graph core structure includes at least one node or edge that can be selectively instantiated.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the Web API graph core structure has at least one node comprising a characteristic node, each characteristic node representing a functionality or a non-functionality that is shared among multiple Web API nodes, selectively.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

a Web API user node has a contact relationship with each of one or more other users, and a Web API node has a connection relationship with each of one or more other Web APIs.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein:

the data structure comprises a Web API graph having nodes and edges, wherein an edge comprises a relationship between two nodes, and a dataset comprising properties of respective nodes and edges is selectively represented in a specified property graph that represents data in a different form than the form of data representation used in the Web API graph.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein:

the specified property graph comprises a resource description framework (RDF) graph, each property of respective nodes and edges of the Web API graph has a corresponding key-value pair, and the key-value pair of a given property is used to represent specified information pertaining to the given property in the RDF graph.

20. A computer system for capturing information for a data structure, wherein the information selectively pertains to Web application programming interfaces (APIs) and to users of Web APIs, the computer system comprising:

a bus;

a memory connected to the bus, wherein program code is stored on the memory; and

a processor unit connected to the bus, wherein the processor unit executes the program code;

to identify a first set of relationships, wherein an identified relationship can be at least a relationship between a Web API and a Web API user, a relationship between different Web API users, or a relationship between different Web APIs;

to furnish the first set of relationships to the data structure as first captured information;

to use the first captured information to perform a specified analysis operation; and

prior to or during performance of the specified analysis operation, to add second information to the data structure, wherein the added second information includes at least one of a user, a Web API, or a relationship that is not included in the first captured information, and the added second information does not affect performance of the specified analysis operation.