Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend • Hacker News Board

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#41

Post by est » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 6:15 AM UTC

minikomi wrote: post #38

For what it's worth, sheets also has publish as CSV which is super useful for, say, building d3 graphs (d3 consumes csv like a champ). I'm using it a lot lately as I have to create static sites with a bunch of different translations. I have the translators edit a set template, which is aggregated into a single sheet. Then, a (racket.. could be python or anything) script reads from the published csv and outputs all th…

G Spreadsheet CSV format sucks, with or without doublequote, with or without newline, all kinds of undefined behaviors.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#42

Post by fatihacet » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 6:20 AM UTC

It's nice tip. However IMO, it would be better to use services like Firebase.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#43

Post by Q_the_Novice » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 6:26 AM UTC

I have once used Google Spreadsheets as a database for a bookmarking app: https://github.com/qawemlilo/Bookmarks. What I did different was that I published my spreadsheet as a CSV doc and then used YQL to convert is to JSONP.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#44

Post by mqzaidi » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 6:33 AM UTC

You can also use the Google query language to do more with the API - see http://qzaidi.github.io/2013/10/05/quranjs/

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#45

Post by lowboy » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 6:41 AM UTC

fatihacet wrote: post #42

It's nice tip. However IMO, it would be better to use services like Firebase.

Care to justify that opinion for those of us that can't read into your mind?

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#46

Post by avgp » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 7:30 AM UTC

lowboy wrote: post #45

fatihacet wrote: post #42

It's nice tip. However IMO, it would be better to use services like Firebase.

Care to justify that opinion for those of us that can't read into your mind?

He does have a point - but only if you want to do something more complex. If you need a JSON store that you can easily edit, I don't see a real advantage over Firebase - but once you want to incorporate, say Twitter login or some form of user authentication for your visitors, you're better off with Firebase, I would say.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#47

Post by avgp » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 7:35 AM UTC

FromStoneage wrote: post #39

you're stealing my idea ! http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-use-google-doc-spreadshe...

Hey Jonathan,

I am the person who wrote the coderwall tip and I am sorry to hear that you feel like this. Especially because I did read your post a while ago, forgot about it and lost the link. I then just searched the GData docs and it's a documented feature. https://developers.google.com/gdata/samples/spreadsheet_samp... so I just spread something lesser known and didn't mean to "steal" anything.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#48

Post by el_shayan » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 7:54 AM UTC

I learned it the hard way: if an API is not official it is likely to break.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#49

Post by fatihacet » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 8:06 AM UTC

lowboy wrote: post #45

fatihacet wrote: post #42

It's nice tip. However IMO, it would be better to use services like Firebase.

Care to justify that opinion for those of us that can't read into your mind?

Because Firebase has a well written and documented API The best advantage of Firebase is it's realtime and it's blazing fast. You can create collaborative apps without worrying the backend. I don't want to change the topic, however it's a great tip. Firebase should be used for more complex things.

Re: Use a Google Spreadsheet as your JSON backend

#50

Post by collyw » Tue, Nov 05, 2013, 8:28 AM UTC

Wonderful. "Excel as a database" more or less.