The Bing Application Programming Interface (API), Version 2, enables developers to programmatically submit queries to and retrieve results from the Bing Engine. This topic introduces the online documentation and additional resources that support use of the Bing API.
How the Documentation is Organized
Bing API documentation is organized with the intent to provide overview, survey, and detailed information for each important area of the API. Thus, the documentation:
- Begins with information about what the API does, and what it does that it didn't do before
- Proceeds to provide relevant survey information for protocols, SourceTypes, and properties
- Concludes with detailed samples demonstrating all of the above.
Table 1 specifies the sections in which you can find this information.
Table 1. Where to find information in the Version 2 documentation
| Section Title |
Contains information about |
|
About the Bing API (Bing, Version 2)
|
The types of information that developers can retrieve from the service.
|
|
What's New in Version 2
|
Recent updates to the API for users of earlier versions.
|
|
Getting Started with Bing API, Version 2
|
Basic requirements for development with the API.
|
|
Working with Protocols (Bing, Version 2)
|
Criteria for choosing whether to use the JSON, XML, or SOAP protocols, and how to formulate a request to their respective interfaces.
|
|
Working with SourceTypes (Bing, Version 2)
|
The purpose of each API SourceType. A SourceType is a source of information accessible to the API; every API request is sent to at least one SourceType. This section also provides reference links to properties and enumerations applicable to each SourceType.
|
|
API Reference (Bing, Version 2)
|
Reference material for the classes, properties, and methods available to Bing developers.
|
|
Code Samples (Bing, Version 2.0)
|
Complete samples that demonstrate how to send requests to and parse responses from each SourceType. Samples are written for each protocol, in languages appropriate for the protocol.
|
Additional Resources
Table 2 specifies additional resources for information related to the Bing API, Version 2.
Table 2. Additional Resources