Hacker News Reader

Of course we have to be pragmatic about these things - if you have a business that will live or die based on the success or failure of its API then you have to make your decision based on that - but there are times that it makes sense to push the boundaries of what developers are comfortable with, yes? Otherwise how do we expect things to progress?

View on HN

How would this be pushing the boundaries?

Putting the format in the URL itself is much easier than having to fiddle with HTTP headers. Not to mention the ability to view API data directly within the browser is a major advantage in discoverability.

Using accept headers and browser discoverability do not have to be mutually exclusive. You can recognize browsers based on user agent and relax the requirements on accept headers.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com