Posted on October 17, 2007 - by Justin Hartman
TinyLink gets a Public API
After a lengthy discussion with Charl last night I got some inspiration and created a Public API for TinyLink. The API can be used through a REST or JSON request and if you’re a developer you can chose either to integrate into your application.
Charl has kindly created an example Python script and a PHP one will follow shortly.
I also spent some time and created an About page which highlights what the service is about as well as what’s on the TODO list.
Finally, I wanted to thank Dominique for doing the hard maths and working out that based on the current database structure TinyLink can hold a total of 2,176,782,336 urls. Calculators were needed!
I’m really not sure why but this project has got me very excited…
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I am a seasoned entrepreneur and currently the CEO of 
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Hey mate, nice work on the api, simple but effective
I’m finishing off a little pet project that will now use that api. Will run it by you for testing… and approval LOL*
As those link previews ( they better use myWebshots
)
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Didn’t even think about that but now I’ve got a cool new angle! Preview page with thumbnails – excellent.
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
“TinyLink can hold a total of 2,176,782,336 urls”
Ok. And then wat?
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Well Colin when(if) TinyLink ever fills that up – which i doubt will happen in the next 10 years – then we’ll close it down for new urls and create a new TinyLink.
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Hey mate, nice work on the api, simple but effective
I'm finishing off a little pet project that will now use that api. Will run it by you for testing… and approval LOL*
As those link previews ( they better use myWebshots
)
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
lol* methinks Colin not grasping the sheer magnitude of 2.1 billion records
besides, i can think of quite a few ways to easily extend tinylink’s current capacity
imagine if somebody who actually LIKES math took a stab
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Didn't even think about that but now I've got a cool new angle! Preview page with thumbnails – excellent.
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Justin – So what you are saying is that in 10 years the site will be renamed to newtinylink.co.za?
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
LOL. Don’t be so literal. I honestly can’t see it ever using 2 billion urls. TinyURL has been going since 2002 and is the most used url shortening service globally and they only have 50 million urls stored.
So, in essence, if we use them as an example they’re doing 10 million urls per year. Based on that load it would take 217.6782336 years to fill up TinyLink’s database.
Enough said?
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
“TinyLink can hold a total of 2,176,782,336 urls”
Ok. And then wat?
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Well Colin when(if) TinyLink ever fills that up – which i doubt will happen in the next 10 years – then we'll close it down for new urls and create a new TinyLink.
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
lol* methinks Colin not grasping the sheer magnitude of 2.1 billion records
besides, i can think of quite a few ways to easily extend tinylink's current capacity
imagine if somebody who actually LIKES math took a stab
Visit My Website
October 18, 2007
Permalink
Well done Justin! Great to see stuff like this coming out of SA. Any details on the server? I would be interested to know where its located, what type of load it can take (probably not an issue right now) and of course what language the backend is written in
Regards
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
Justin – So what you are saying is that in 10 years the site will be renamed to newtinylink.co.za?
Visit My Website
October 17, 2007
Permalink
LOL. Don't be so literal. I honestly can't see it ever using 2 billion urls. TinyURL has been going since 2002 and is the most used url shortening service globally and they only have 50 million urls stored.
So, in essence, if we use them as an example they're doing 10 million urls per year. Based on that load it would take 217.6782336 years to fill up TinyLink's database.
Enough said?
Visit My Website
October 18, 2007
Permalink
Well done Justin! Great to see stuff like this coming out of SA. Any details on the server? I would be interested to know where its located, what type of load it can take (probably not an issue right now) and of course what language the backend is written in
Regards
Visit My Website
October 18, 2007
Permalink
Hey Neville. Well at the moment it’s hosted on the Afrigator server. You know how resources go
It’s just a few php scripts with a mysql backend and I have no idea on what type of load it can take just yet seeing as there simply isn’t much.
As it’s a really light-weight application I think the bigger issue will be how many simultaneous connections mysql & apache can handle on the server because that’s where the real potential issue will come from.
Visit My Website
October 18, 2007
Permalink
Hey Neville. Well at the moment it's hosted on the Afrigator server. You know how resources go
It's just a few php scripts with a mysql backend and I have no idea on what type of load it can take just yet seeing as there simply isn't much.
As it's a really light-weight application I think the bigger issue will be how many simultaneous connections mysql & apache can handle on the server because that's where the real potential issue will come from.