I have finished reading Professional Web APIs with PHP: eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon, FedEx plus Web Feeds book by Paul Reinheimer over the weekend.

I have to say, it was quite a resourceful read. I have read a few books on API but I found this book particularly interesting because the book was intended for PHP developers. Apart from offering numerous code examples on how to utilise feeds and APIs provided by leading web brands such as Google and eBay, this book also tells you how to implement your own API and things to look out for when making your API available on the Internet. And the best bit? I have finally understood the difference between REST and SOAP. :)

For those interested, the table of content:

Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
Part One: Web Feeds.
Chapter 1: Introducing Web Services.
Chapter 2: Introducing Web Feeds.
Chapter 3: Consuming Web Feeds.
Chapter 4: Producing Web Feeds.
Part Two: APIs.
Chapter 5: Introduction to Web APIs.
Chapter 6: Interacting with the Google API.
Chapter 7: Interacting with the Amazon API.
Chapter 8: Interacting with the FedEx API.
Chapter 9: Interacting with the eBay API.
Chapter 10: Interacting with the PayPal API.
Chapter 11: Other Major APIs.
Chapter 12: Producing Web APIs.
Appendix A: Supporting Functions.
Appendix B: Complete Feed Specifications.
Appendix C: Development System.
Index.

[tags]api, book, web services, php, programming, soap, rest, feeds[/tags]