In the early 1990s, the Web didn’t have RSS or Atom—but it did have the core ingredients of syndication APIs: stable URLs, machine-friendly representations, and repeatable retrieval via HTTP. This chapter traces how early HTTP interfaces and publishing habits made feeds inevitable.
In the early 1990s, the Web had HTTP requests and shared documents—but not “web APIs” or delegated authorization. This chapter traces the authorization reality of 1990–1994 and explains how those constraints foreshadowed OAuth 2.0.
Google Maps API arrived much later, but its DNA is visible in the early Web (1990–1994): HTTP’s uniform interface, server-side programs exposed through URLs, and the first patterns for turning data into interactive experiences—including location-based pages.
Between 1990 and 1994, the Web’s simplest building blocks—URLs, HTTP requests, and server-side gateway scripts—quietly formed the earliest “public web APIs.” This chapter traces how those early interfaces made proto-mashups possible long before the term existed.
Between 1990 and 1994, the Web’s earliest HTTP interactions weren’t called “APIs,” yet they introduced resource identity, uniform operations, and stateless requests—the same building blocks REST would later formalize.
In the Web’s earliest years, HTTP’s stateless design collided with real application needs: logins, carts, personalization, and workflow. This chapter traces how developers improvised sessions and how cookies began to emerge around 1994.