Where to find API documentation [0.5d]

There is no single place to look up documentation for our stack.

This card includes some hints where you can find API documentation. You probably want to drag a few of those links to your bookmarks toolbar. This will help in the upcoming exercises.

Ruby

Basic classes like String, Error, Hash or Object are part of the Ruby standard library:

• DevDocs for Ruby 2.7 Archive : Pretty web interface for the Ruby standard library
• RubyDocs for Ruby 2.7 Archive : Official docs for the Ruby standard library

Ruby on Rails

Since you will use Rails more than any other gem, you will always want its documentation to be close:

• Rails API Archive
• Rails guides Archive

ActiveSupport

ActiveSupport extends core classes in Ruby Archive .

We are so used to having ActiveSupport around that we don’t even think of it separate from Ruby anymore.
Which is why some methods you would expected to be documented in Ruby are actually in the Rails docs, e.g.

• Array#to_sentence Archive
• String#dasherize Archive
• Hash#slice Archive
• Object#presence Archive

Libraries

The best way to learn about a Ruby gem, Javascript libary, etc. is often to find the repository on Github and look at its README file. Here are a few examples:

• https://github.com/makandra/active_type Archive
• https://github.com/travisjeffery/timecop Archive
• https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry Archive

Some libraries also publish dedicated sites with their documentation, e.g.:

• http://unpoly.com Archive
• https://lodash.com/ Archive
• http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/ Archive

Web Platform (HTML, JavaScript, CSS)

The best reference to look up information on HTML tags, JavaScript features or CSS properties is the English MDN Web Docs Archive .

Important

The German version of MDN is full of incomplete and outdated articles. Only the English version of MDN is actively maintained.

Googling web terms will often rank German MDN articles very high. When you reach a German MDN article that way, the first thing you do is switch to the English version (link on the top right).

External APIs

When you're using external SaaS APIs, they often publish language-independent documentation. Some examples:

• https://stripe.com/docs/api Archive
• https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/reference Archive
• https://www.twilio.com/docs/api/rest Archive

Anything not mentioned here

Google is your friend.