FireKamp

firekamp

Hey, campers and API enthusiasts! I'm incredibly excited to introduce you to Firecamp, the ultimate minimal and web-first API devtool. The journey of creating Firecamp began when I found myself working on various projects involving microservices and utilizing multiple protocols. It became apparent that there was a need for a complete API tool that could support the complete solution for all major protocols with extreme developer experience. Introducing Firecamp, The Open Source Postman Alternative : : GitHub https://github.com/firecamp-dev/firecamp Platform https://firecamp.dev Full OSS Launch: 15th Aug 2023 https://twitter.com/Nishchit14/status/1681339946098114562?embedable=true However, reaching this point was not without its challenges. Firecamp initially started as a WebSocket and SocketIO client as I explored different possibilities and experimented with integrating services like Ably and Pusher. These attempts didn't quite fit the vision I had in mind. However, those experiences and failures helped me shape Firecamp into what it is today. Today, Firecamp stands proud as a versatile platform that supports REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, and SocketIO, offering dedicated playgrounds for each protocol. But we're not stopping there. Our journey is just beginning, and we have plans to incorporate support for even more protocols as we continue our open-source journey. (OSS journey started here, the full launch will happen on 15th Aug.) The end goal is to build the perfect and complete API DevTool. The end goal is to build the perfect and complete API DevTool. 👉 Firecamp Offering Here are all the amazing features that Firecamp has to offer: Best-in-class Developer Experience inspired by VSCode : Truly Multi-protocol support Get dedicated API playgrounds for each protocol: Rest GraphQL WebSocket SocketIO Let me know what you're thinking about next Organization management Multiple workspaces Unified API Collection Web-first platform Desktop apps (coming soon) for those who prefer a dedicated application. Multiple Firecamp Agents including Browser, Desktop, Cloud, and Extension (work in progress) Firecamp CLI Cookie management (work in progress) API Documentation (work in progress) API Test Runner (GUI and CLI) Light and Dark personalise your Firecamp experience Team Collaboration GraphQL Query Collection Environment Variables & Globals Postman compatibility because I understand the pain of migration Import and Export of Collection API History (coming soon) Request scoped Scripts Request scoped Auth Collection/Folder scoped Scripts Collection/Folder scoped Auth AI I am more excited about it, status: planned Phase-2 let it be surprised for you These features are designed to enhance your API development experience, provide flexibility, and simplify the management of your APIs. Firecamp is continually evolving, and we're committed to bringing you even more exciting features in the future. What I Am Building Currently Firecamp CLI ( ) GitHub Firecamp Collection Runner GitHub Keyboard First Devtool My top priorities are to create a command-line interface (CLI) and a collection runner. The CLI and collection runner will allow users to run a group of API requests together terminal or GUI interface. I'm also focused on making Firecamp , so developers can navigate and use it efficiently without relying solely on a mouse. These priorities aim to make Firecamp user-friendly and improve productivity for developers. keyboard-friendly 🎯 Core Focus? It's without compromising functionality. Simplicity is at the core of Firecamp's design philosophy, and it is the driving force behind the development of this API platform. simplicity The simplicity of the devtool is directly related to the level of developer experience; thus, I am more obsessed with the DX in Firecamp. Why It's Important? Before pushing Firecamp to the next level, I have gone through deep research. Here are some gaps which are required to be bridged in the API Platform. Many existing API tools have become increasingly complex due to the rising demand for features. This complexity arises from the broken standards and the diverse nature of APIs. It is challenging for a single dev tool to cater to the expectations of all stateful, stateless, and hybrid APIs. (true with Postman and others) The complexity of API Tools: While minimal and lightweight platforms exist, they often fail to fulfill the complex requirements of modern API team workflows; for example: web-first, cloud-first services like collaboration, monitoring, API portal, or up-to-mark documentation. (true with Insomnia and others) Minimal Platforms Falling Short: Most are started to resemble web or desktop applications rather than devtools. The architecture of the foundation plays a major role in this mindset which can lead to a suboptimal developer experience. (true with Postwoman) Application vs Devtool Mindset: Many tools prioritize REST and provide limited support for other protocols. However, this compromises the ability to offer a complete end-to-end solution for specific protocols, their lifecycle, and the provision of dedicated playgrounds. (true with all) REST-first dilemma: Developers building REST APIs and those building GraphQL servers have different mindsets and expectations from an API platform. The same applies to all other protocols. By focusing on simplicity, Firecamp aims to bridge these gaps and provide a solution that is intuitive, powerful, and efficient. It ensures that developers can embrace a devtool specifically designed for API development, offering the necessary functionalities without overwhelming complexity. !! No more bloated experience API Devtool Inspiration? Considering as a value, the design aspect of the devtool is very crucial. Although I'm not a designer myself, I knew that creating a consistent and appealing design was essential. To tackle this challenge, I studied different devtools and open-source projects like VSCode, GitLab, and Figma Engineering. simplicity I also explored popular no-code solutions for building internal tools like AppSmith, ToolJet, and Budibase. These projects helped me understand the key factors that make a successful devtool, such as design, architecture, and scalability. As I narrowed down my focus to align with Firecamp's future, emerged as a significant source of inspiration. VSCode is widely recognized as the epitome of a well-designed devtool, boasting design standards, customization options, and extensible architecture. VSCode The VSCode team dedicated considerable time and resources to achieve these high standards for a devtool. Taking inspiration from VSCode, I incorporated design principles and adopted a similar approach to the architecture of Firecamp. This means that Firecamp not only looks good but also works efficiently and can be customized to suit different needs. By following in the footsteps of a widely recognized and well-designed devtool like VSCode, I aim to provide Firecamp users with an enjoyable and visually appealing experience. Commitment Of Firecamp At Firecamp, we are committed to delivering exceptional value and continuously improving our platform. Here are the key areas of our commitment: We are dedicated to enhancing the developer experience (DX) within Firecamp. Currently, we follow the high standards set by tools like VSCode. We will continue to listen to the community, gather feedback, and make improvements based on the needs and preferences of developers. 1. Developer Experience: Firecamp's core will always remain open source. We deeply value the open-source community and believe in the power of collaboration and contribution. We welcome and appreciate the involvement of the community in shaping Firecamp's future. 2. Open Source: Firecamp is designed to be a truly multi-protocol platform. We provide dedicated playgrounds and end-to-end solutions for specific protocols, ensuring that developers have the tools they need for seamless API development. As we move forward, we will expand our support for additional protocols based on the interests and requirements of the community. 3. Multi-protocol: Postman Compatibility As a developer, I understand the challenges of migrating from one tool to another. That's why I have made sure that Firecamp achieves the highest level of Postman compatibility. This compatibility ensures a smooth transition for users who are familiar with , , , , and . You can seamlessly transfer your existing knowledge and scripts to Firecamp. API Collection environment variables global variables collection variables scripts https://twitter.com/Nishchit14/status/1679523569091633153 Roadmap: Future of Firecamp Firecamp is evolving into a one-stop, feature-rich platform, aiming to become the most complete OpenSource Platform for API development. By starting the OpenSource journey, the future roadmap includes the introduction of: Cutting-edge AI-powered capabilities A user-friendly CLI tool An advanced API test runner A versatile built-in proxy Robust SSL support Seamless history tracking Improved developer experience Enhanced API documentation, and Seamless integration with CI/CD workflows Undisclosed Platform Phase-2 These upcoming features will transform Firecamp into the ultimate destination for developers, offering a best-in-class development experience and a feature-rich API environment. Quick Links : GitHub https://github.com/firecamp-dev/firecamp : App https://firecamp.dev : Website https://firecamp.io : Twitter https://twitter.com/firecampdev Thank you for your attention till the end. My DM is open if you wanna catch up. Twitter Have a great week!! Also published here

Postman Alternative: Firecamp -  Lightweight and Minimal API Testing Client

In the modern age of development, having an efficient developer workflow plays a huge role in shipping quality software as fast as possible. Open source is a valuable resource with tons of projects that are supported by the community and allows us to better tailor the solutions for our particular needs. In this article, I decided to manually handpick 16 of my favorite open-source projects that can boost your development workflow and allow you to save time. From testing environments, and auth solutions to robust analytics, database managers, and deployment solutions, I hope that these tools will improve your craft. I also added direct links, descriptions, and previews of each project so that you can get an idea about them right away while reading the article. 1. Firecamp Firecamp is a cross-platform API development tool. It puts REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket API testing into one interface. This allows you to test and debug in a single application, reducing wasted time on context switches between different tools. 2. Budibase Budibase is an open-source, low-code platform for building powerful and effective internal tools and business apps. It enables rapid application development, reduces manual coding, and can be integrated with many popular databases/services. 3. Hanko Hanko is an open-source auth solution for creating passwordless logins with passkeys and passcodes. It produces a secure yet easy-to-implement system for authentication, reducing complexity and time spent managing user authentications. 4. Cerbos Cerbos is a policy-based access control system that makes it easy for developers to manage user permissions. It decouples the access control logic from the application code, which provides flexibility in managing authorization rules. 5. Primo Primo is a visual CMS for static sites that allows developers to edit the content of the sites you are building on the go. It is also integrated with an intuitive visual editor to give the best developer experience with an instant preview. 6. Typebot Typebot is a platform to create chatbots in a no-code interface. You can further embed them anywhere on your web/mobile apps, and collect results in real-time to help in user support. 7. Mermaid Mermaid is a diagramming tool using JavaScript that takes the textual definition of diagrams and charts and draws them. It allows users to visually create flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and classes, among others, in a dynamic way in either a browser or markdown files. 8. Flipt Flipt is an enterprise-ready, GitOps-enabled, CloudNative system for managing the feature roadmap of your applications. It allows gradual rollout, A/B testing, and experimentation to follow DevOps best practices and separate releases from deployments. 9. SigNoz SigNoz is a free-to-use observability platform with out-of-the-box metrics, logs, and traces for troubleshooting. This provides an easy-to-use interface and detailed overview for real-time diagnosis of performance issues and application optimization. 10. Plausible Plausible Analytics is an open-source web analytics tool that extensively focuses on privacy and is considered easier to use than Google Analytics. It provides clear and actionable insights without unnecessary bloat and clutter, making it easier for the developers to monitor performance on the website. 11. Supabase Supabase is an open-source alternative to Firebase. It can also serve as a backend-as-a-service, providing real-time databases, authentication, and storage. It allows developers to quickly develop and scale their applications with minimal setup while utilizing tools they already know. 12. Prisma Prisma is an open-source object-relational mapping tool that provides easier database access for Node.js and TypeScript applications. It provides type-safe database queries, automated migrations, and a rich data model, leading to more efficient and error-free database management. 13. Beekeeper Beekeeper Studio is a modern, open-source SQL editor and DB manager. It provides an interface to write queries, manage the databases, and visualize your data for MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, SQL Server, and more. 14. Coolify Coolify is an open-source, self-hosted Heroku / Netlify / Vercel alternative for the deployment and management of web apps and databases. It helps you manage your servers, applications, and databases on your own hardware; you only need an SSH connection. 15. Jest Jest is a fast and safe JavaScript testing framework with a focus on simplicity. It comes with an easy-to-use test environment with lots of features to enhance performance, like snapshot testing or parallelization. 16. Oh My Zsh Oh My Zsh is a community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration. It is equipped with a number of helpful plugins and themes, which extend the terminal with customizability with little effort. Did you like the resources? Here is more 👇 Join 6000+ others to receive the best DEV resources, tools, productivity tips, and career growth advice I discover by subscribing to my newsletter! Also, connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and GitHub! Writing has always been my passion and it gives me pleasure to help and inspire people. If you want to get featured or partner up, feel free to get in touch! In the modern age of development, having an efficient developer workflow plays a huge role in shipping quality software as fast as possible. Open source is a valuable resource with tons of projects that are supported by the community and allows us to better tailor the solutions for our particular needs. In this article, I decided to manually handpick 16 of my favorite open-source projects that can boost your development workflow and allow you to save time. From testing environments, and auth solutions to robust analytics, database managers, and deployment solutions, I hope that these tools will improve your craft. I also added direct links, descriptions, and previews of each project so that you can get an idea about them right away while reading the article. 1. Firecamp Firecamp Firecamp is a cross-platform API development tool. It puts REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket API testing into one interface. This allows you to test and debug in a single application, reducing wasted time on context switches between different tools. 2. Budibase Budibase Budibase is an open-source, low-code platform for building powerful and effective internal tools and business apps. It enables rapid application development, reduces manual coding, and can be integrated with many popular databases/services. 3. Hanko Hanko Hanko is an open-source auth solution for creating passwordless logins with passkeys and passcodes. It produces a secure yet easy-to-implement system for authentication, reducing complexity and time spent managing user authentications. 4. Cerbos Cerbos Cerbos is a policy-based access control system that makes it easy for developers to manage user permissions. It decouples the access control logic from the application code, which provides flexibility in managing authorization rules. 5. Primo Primo Primo is a visual CMS for static sites that allows developers to edit the content of the sites you are building on the go. It is also integrated with an intuitive visual editor to give the best developer experience with an instant preview. 6. Typebot Typebot Typebot is a platform to create chatbots in a no-code interface. You can further embed them anywhere on your web/mobile apps, and collect results in real-time to help in user support. 7. Mermaid Mermaid Mermaid is a diagramming tool using JavaScript that takes the textual definition of diagrams and charts and draws them. It allows users to visually create flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and classes, among others, in a dynamic way in either a browser or markdown files. 8. Flipt Flipt Flipt is an enterprise-ready, GitOps-enabled, CloudNative system for managing the feature roadmap of your applications. It allows gradual rollout, A/B testing, and experimentation to follow DevOps best practices and separate releases from deployments. 9. SigNoz SigNoz SigNoz is a free-to-use observability platform with out-of-the-box metrics, logs, and traces for troubleshooting. This provides an easy-to-use interface and detailed overview for real-time diagnosis of performance issues and application optimization. 10. Plausible Plausible Plausible Analytics is an open-source web analytics tool that extensively focuses on privacy and is considered easier to use than Google Analytics. It provides clear and actionable insights without unnecessary bloat and clutter, making it easier for the developers to monitor performance on the website. 11. Supabase Supabase Supabase is an open-source alternative to Firebase. It can also serve as a backend-as-a-service, providing real-time databases, authentication, and storage. It allows developers to quickly develop and scale their applications with minimal setup while utilizing tools they already know. 12. Prisma Prisma Prisma is an open-source object-relational mapping tool that provides easier database access for Node.js and TypeScript applications. It provides type-safe database queries, automated migrations, and a rich data model, leading to more efficient and error-free database management. 13. Beekeeper Beekeeper Beekeeper Studio is a modern, open-source SQL editor and DB manager. It provides an interface to write queries, manage the databases, and visualize your data for MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, SQL Server, and more. 14. Coolify Coolify Coolify is an open-source, self-hosted Heroku / Netlify / Vercel alternative for the deployment and management of web apps and databases. It helps you manage your servers, applications, and databases on your own hardware; you only need an SSH connection. 15. Jest Jest Jest is a fast and safe JavaScript testing framework with a focus on simplicity. It comes with an easy-to-use test environment with lots of features to enhance performance, like snapshot testing or parallelization. 16. Oh My Zsh Oh My Zsh Oh My Zsh is a community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration. It is equipped with a number of helpful plugins and themes, which extend the terminal with customizability with little effort. Did you like the resources? Here is more 👇 Did you like the resources? Here is more 👇 Join 6000+ others to receive the best DEV resources, tools, productivity tips, and career growth advice I discover by subscribing to my newsletter ! my newsletter my newsletter Also, connect with me on Twitter , LinkedIn , and GitHub ! Twitter Twitter LinkedIn LinkedIn GitHub GitHub Writing has always been my passion and it gives me pleasure to help and inspire people. If you want to get featured or partner up, feel free to get in touch ! get in touch get in touch

16 Handpicked Open-Source Projects to Improve Your Developer Workflow

The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . NEW ABERFOYLE here CHAPTER VII. NEW ABERFOYLE The old overman’s experiment had succeeded. Firedamp, it is well known, is only generated in coal seams; therefore the existence of a vein of precious combustible could no longer be doubted. As to its size and quality, that must be determined later. “Yes,” thought James Starr, “behind that wall lies a carboniferous bed, undiscovered by our soundings. It is vexatious that all the apparatus of the mine, deserted for ten years, must be set up anew. Never mind. We have found the vein which was thought to be exhausted, and this time it shall be worked to the end!” “Well, Mr. Starr,” asked Ford, “what do you think of our discovery? Was I wrong to trouble you? Are you sorry to have paid this visit to the Dochart pit?” “No, no, my old friend!” answered Starr. “We have not lost our time; but we shall be losing it now, if we do not return immediately to the cottage. To-morrow we will come back here. We will blast this wall with dynamite. We will lay open the new vein, and after a series of soundings, if the seam appears to be large, I will form a new Aberfoyle Company, to the great satisfaction of the old shareholders. Before three months have passed, the first corves full of coal will have been taken from the new vein.” “Well said, sir!” cried Simon Ford. “The old mine will grow young again, like a widow who remarries! The bustle of the old days will soon begin with the blows of the pick, and mattock, blasts of powder, rumbling of wagons, neighing of horses, creaking of machines! I shall see it all again! I hope, Mr. Starr, that you will not think me too old to resume my duties of overman?” “No, Simon, no indeed! You wear better than I do, my old friend!” “And, sir, you shall be our viewer again. May the new working last for many years, and pray Heaven I shall have the consolation of dying without seeing the end of it!” The old miner was overflowing with joy. James Starr fully entered into it; but he let Ford rave for them both. Harry alone remained thoughtful. To his memory recurred the succession of singular, inexplicable circumstances attending the discovery of the new bed. It made him uneasy about the future. An hour afterwards, James Starr and his two companions were back in the cottage. The engineer supped with good appetite, listening with satisfaction to all the plans unfolded by the old overman; and had it not been for his excitement about the next day’s work, he would never have slept better than in the perfect stillness of the cottage. The following day, after a substantial breakfast, James Starr, Simon Ford, Harry, and even Madge herself, took the road already traversed the day before. All looked like regular miners. They carried different tools, and some dynamite with which to blast the rock. Harry, besides a large lantern, took a safety lamp, which would burn for twelve hours. It was more than was necessary for the journey there and back, including the time for the working—supposing a working was possible. “To work! to work!” shouted Ford, when the party reached the further end of the passage; and he grasped a heavy crowbar and brandished it. “Stop one instant,” said Starr. “Let us see if any change has taken place, and if the fire-damp still escapes through the crevices.” “You are right, Mr. Starr,” said Harry. “Whoever stopped it up yesterday may have done it again to-day!” Madge, seated on a rock, carefully observed the excavation, and the wall which was to be blasted. It was found that everything was just as they left it. The crevices had undergone no alteration; the carburetted hydrogen still filtered through, though in a small stream, which was no doubt because it had had a free passage since the day before. As the quantity was so small, it could not have formed an explosive mixture with the air inside. James Starr and his companions could therefore proceed in security. Besides, the air grew purer by rising to the heights of the Dochart pit; and the fire-damp, spreading through the atmosphere, would not be strong enough to make any explosion. “To work, then!” repeated Ford; and soon the rock flew in splinters under his skillful blows. The break was chiefly composed of pudding-stone, interspersed with sandstone and schist, such as is most often met with between the coal veins. James Starr picked up some of the pieces, and examined them carefully, hoping to discover some trace of coal. Starr having chosen the place where the holes were to be drilled, they were rapidly bored by Harry. Some cartridges of dynamite were put into them. As soon as the long, tarred safety match was laid, it was lighted on a level with the ground. James Starr and his companions then went off to some distance. “Oh! Mr. Starr,” said Simon Ford, a prey to agitation, which he did not attempt to conceal, “never, no, never has my old heart beaten so quick before! I am longing to get at the vein!” “Patience, Simon!” responded the engineer. “You don’t mean to say that you think you are going to find a passage all ready open behind that dyke?” “Excuse me, sir,” answered the old overman; “but of course I think so! If there was good luck in the way Harry and I discovered this place, why shouldn’t the good luck go on?” As he spoke, came the explosion. A sound as of thunder rolled through the labyrinth of subterranean galleries. Starr, Madge, Harry, and Simon Ford hastened towards the spot. “Mr. Starr! Mr. Starr!” shouted the overman. “Look! the door is broken open!” Ford’s comparison was justified by the appearance of an excavation, the depth of which could not be calculated. Harry was about to spring through the opening; but the engineer, though excessively surprised to find this cavity, held him back. “Allow time for the air in there to get pure,” said he. “Yes! beware of the foul air!” said Simon. A quarter of an hour was passed in anxious waiting. The lantern was then fastened to the end of a stick, and introduced into the cave, where it continued to burn with unaltered brilliancy. “Now then, Harry, go,” said Starr, “and we will follow you.” The opening made by the dynamite was sufficiently large to allow a man to pass through. Harry, lamp in hand, entered unhesitatingly, and disappeared in the darkness. His father, mother, and James Starr waited in silence. A minute—which seemed to them much longer—passed. Harry did not reappear, did not call. Gazing into the opening, James Starr could not even see the light of his lamp, which ought to have illuminated the dark cavern. Had the ground suddenly given way under Harry’s feet? Had the young miner fallen into some crevice? Could his voice no longer reach his companions? The old overman, dead to their remonstrances, was about to enter the opening, when a light appeared, dim at first, but gradually growing brighter, and Harry’s voice was heard shouting, “Come, Mr. Starr! come, father! The road to New Aberfoyle is open!” If, by some superhuman power, engineers could have raised in a block, a thousand feet thick, all that portion of the terrestrial crust which supports the lakes, rivers, gulfs, and territories of the counties of Stirling, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, they would have found, under that enormous lid, an immense excavation, to which but one other in the world can be compared—the celebrated Mammoth caves of Kentucky. This excavation was composed of several hundred divisions of all sizes and shapes. It might be called a hive with numberless ranges of cells, capriciously arranged, but a hive on a vast scale, and which, instead of bees, might have lodged all the ichthyosauri, megatheriums, and pterodactyles of the geological epoch. A labyrinth of galleries, some higher than the most lofty cathedrals, others like cloisters, narrow and winding—these following a horizontal line, those on an incline or running obliquely in all directions—connected the caverns and allowed free communication between them. The pillars sustaining the vaulted roofs, whose curves allowed of every style, the massive walls between the passages, the naves themselves in this layer of secondary formation, were composed of sandstone and schistous rocks. But tightly packed between these useless strata ran valuable veins of coal, as if the black blood of this strange mine had circulated through their tangled network. These fields extended forty miles north and south, and stretched even under the Caledonian Canal. The importance of this bed could not be calculated until after soundings, but it would certainly surpass those of Cardiff and Newcastle. We may add that the working of this mine would be singularly facilitated by the fantastic dispositions of the secondary earths; for by an unaccountable retreat of the mineral matter at the geological epoch, when the mass was solidifying, nature had already multiplied the galleries and tunnels of New Aberfoyle. Yes, nature alone! It might at first have been supposed that some works abandoned for centuries had been discovered afresh. Nothing of the sort. No one would have deserted such riches. Human termites had never gnawed away this part of the Scottish subsoil; nature herself had done it all. But, we repeat, it could be compared to nothing but the celebrated Mammoth caves, which, in an extent of more than twenty miles, contain two hundred and twenty-six avenues, eleven lakes, seven rivers, eight cataracts, thirty-two unfathomable wells, and fifty-seven domes, some of which are more than four hundred and fifty feet in height. Like these caves, New Aberfoyle was not the work of men, but the work of the Creator. Such was this new domain, of matchless wealth, the discovery of which belonged entirely to the old overman. Ten years’ sojourn in the deserted mine, an uncommon pertinacity in research, perfect faith, sustained by a marvelous mining instinct—all these qualities together led him to succeed where so many others had failed. Why had the soundings made under the direction of James Starr during the last years of the working stopped just at that limit, on the very frontier of the new mine? That was all chance, which takes great part in researches of this kind. However that might be, there was, under the Scottish subsoil, what might be called a subterranean county, which, to be habitable, needed only the rays of the sun, or, for want of that, the light of a special planet. Water had collected in various hollows, forming vast ponds, or rather lakes larger than Loch Katrine, lying just above them. Of course the waters of these lakes had no movement of currents or tides; no old castle was reflected there; no birch or oak trees waved on their banks. And yet these deep lakes, whose mirror-like surface was never ruffled by a breeze, would not be without charm by the light of some electric star, and, connected by a string of canals, would well complete the geography of this strange domain. Although unfit for any vegetable production, the place could be inhabited by a whole population. And who knows but that in this steady temperature, in the depths of the mines of Aberfoyle, as well as in those of Newcastle, Alloa, or Cardiff—when their contents shall have been exhausted—who knows but that the poorer classes of Great Britain will some day find a refuge? About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (1998). The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1353/pg1353-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

NEW ABERFOYLE

The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . SIMON FORD’S EXPERIMENT here CHAPTER VI. SIMON FORD’S EXPERIMENT The old clock in the cottage struck one as James Starr and his two companions went out. A dim light penetrated through the ventilating shaft into the glade. Harry’s lamp was not necessary here, but it would very soon be of use, for the old overman was about to conduct the engineer to the very end of the Dochart pit. After following the principal gallery for a distance of two miles, the three explorers—for, as will be seen, this was a regular exploration—arrived at the entrance of a narrow tunnel. It was like a nave, the roof of which rested on woodwork, covered with white moss. It followed very nearly the line traced by the course of the river Forth, fifteen hundred feet above. “So we are going to the end of the last vein?” said James Starr. “Ay! You know the mine well still.” “Well, Simon,” returned the engineer, “it will be difficult to go further than that, if I don’t mistake.” “Yes, indeed, Mr. Starr. That was where our picks tore out the last bit of coal in the seam. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I myself gave that last blow, and it re-echoed in my heart more dismally than on the rock. Only sandstone and schist were round us after that, and when the truck rolled towards the shaft, I followed, with my heart as full as though it were a funeral. It seemed to me that the soul of the mine was going with it.” The gravity with which the old man uttered these words impressed the engineer, who was not far from sharing his sentiments. They were those of the sailor who leaves his disabled vessel—of the proprietor who sees the house of his ancestors pulled down. He pressed Ford’s hand; but now the latter seized that of the engineer, and, wringing it: “That day we were all of us mistaken,” he exclaimed. “No! The old mine was not dead. It was not a corpse that the miners abandoned; and I dare to assert, Mr. Starr, that its heart beats still.” “Speak, Ford! Have you discovered a new vein?” cried the engineer, unable to contain himself. “I know you have! Your letter could mean nothing else.” “Mr. Starr,” said Simon Ford, “I did not wish to tell any man but yourself.” “And you did quite right, Ford. But tell me how, by what signs, are you sure?” “Listen, sir!” resumed Simon. “It is not a seam that I have found.” “What is it, then?” “Only positive proof that such a seam exists.” “And the proof?” “Could fire-damp issue from the bowels of the earth if coal was not there to produce it?” “No, certainly not!” replied the engineer. “No coal, no fire-damp. No effects without a cause.” “Just as no smoke without fire.” “And have you recognized the presence of light carburetted hydrogen?” “An old miner could not be deceived,” answered Ford. “I have met with our old enemy, the fire-damp!” “But suppose it was another gas,” said Starr. “Firedamp is almost without smell, and colorless. It only really betrays its presence by an explosion.” “Mr. Starr,” said Simon Ford, “will you let me tell you what I have done? Harry had once or twice observed something remarkable in his excursions to the west end of the mine. Fire, which suddenly went out, sometimes appeared along the face of the rock or on the embankment of the further galleries. How those flames were lighted, I could not and cannot say. But they were evidently owing to the presence of fire-damp, and to me fire-damp means a vein of coal.” “Did not these fires cause any explosion?” asked the engineer quickly. “Yes, little partial explosions,” replied Ford, “such as I used to cause myself when I wished to ascertain the presence of fire-damp. Do you remember how formerly it was the custom to try to prevent explosions before our good genius, Humphry Davy, invented his safety-lamp?” “Yes,” replied James Starr. “You mean what the ‘monk,’ as the men called him, used to do. But I have never seen him in the exercise of his duty.” “Indeed, Mr. Starr, you are too young, in spite of your five-and-fifty years, to have seen that. But I, ten years older, often saw the last ‘monk’ working in the mine. He was called so because he wore a long robe like a monk. His proper name was the ‘fireman.’ At that time there was no other means of destroying the bad gas but by dispersing it in little explosions, before its buoyancy had collected it in too great quantities in the heights of the galleries. The monk, as we called him, with his face masked, his head muffled up, all his body tightly wrapped in a thick felt cloak, crawled along the ground. He could breathe down there, when the air was pure; and with his right hand he waved above his head a blazing torch. When the firedamp had accumulated in the air, so as to form a detonating mixture, the explosion occurred without being fatal, and, by often renewing this operation, catastrophes were prevented. Sometimes the ‘monk’ was injured or killed in his work, then another took his place. This was done in all mines until the Davy lamp was universally adopted. But I knew the plan, and by its means I discovered the presence of firedamp and consequently that of a new seam of coal in the Dochart pit.” All that the old overman had related of the so-called “monk” or “fireman” was perfectly true. The air in the galleries of mines was formerly always purified in the way described. Fire-damp, marsh-gas, or carburetted hydrogen, is colorless, almost scentless; it burns with a blue flame, and makes respiration impossible. The miner could not live in a place filled with this injurious gas, any more than one could live in a gasometer full of common gas. Moreover, fire-damp, as well as the latter, a mixture of inflammable gases, forms a detonating mixture as soon as the air unites with it in a proportion of eight, and perhaps even five to the hundred. When this mixture is lighted by any cause, there is an explosion, almost always followed by a frightful catastrophe. As they walked on, Simon Ford told the engineer all that he had done to attain his object; how he was sure that the escape of fire-damp took place at the very end of the farthest gallery in its western part, because he had provoked small and partial explosions, or rather little flames, enough to show the nature of the gas, which escaped in a small jet, but with a continuous flow. An hour after leaving the cottage, James Starr and his two companions had gone a distance of four miles. The engineer, urged by anxiety and hope, walked on without noticing the length of the way. He pondered over all that the old miner had told him, and mentally weighed all the arguments which the latter had given in support of his belief. He agreed with him in thinking that the continued emission of carburetted hydrogen certainly showed the existence of a new coal-seam. If it had been merely a sort of pocket, full of gas, as it is sometimes found amongst the rock, it would soon have been empty, and the phenomenon have ceased. But far from that. According to Simon Ford, the fire-damp escaped incessantly, and from that fact the existence of an important vein might be considered certain. Consequently, the riches of the Dochart pit were not entirely exhausted. The chief question now was, whether this was merely a vein which would yield comparatively little, or a bed occupying a large extent. Harry, who preceded his father and the engineer, stopped. “Here we are!” exclaimed the old miner. “At last, thank Heaven! you are here, Mr. Starr, and we shall soon know.” The old overman’s voice trembled slightly. “Be calm, my man!” said the engineer. “I am as excited as you are, but we must not lose time.” The gallery at this end of the pit widened into a sort of dark cave. No shaft had been pierced in this part, and the gallery, bored into the bowels of the earth, had no direct communication with the surface of the earth. James Starr, with intense interest, examined the place in which they were standing. On the walls of the cavern the marks of the pick could still be seen, and even holes in which the rock had been blasted, near the termination of the working. The schist was excessively hard, and it had not been necessary to bank up the end of the tunnel where the works had come to an end. There the vein had failed, between the schist and the tertiary sandstone. From this very place had been extracted the last piece of coal from the Dochart pit. “We must attack the dyke,” said Ford, raising his pick; “for at the other side of the break, at more or less depth, we shall assuredly find the vein, the existence of which I assert.” “And was it on the surface of these rocks that you found out the fire-damp?” asked James Starr. “Just there, sir,” returned Ford, “and I was able to light it only by bringing my lamp near to the cracks in the rock. Harry has done it as well as I.” “At what height?” asked Starr. “Ten feet from the ground,” replied Harry. James Starr had seated himself on a rock. After critically inhaling the air of the cavern, he gazed at the two miners, almost as if doubting their words, decided as they were. In fact, carburetted hydrogen is not completely scentless, and the engineer, whose sense of smell was very keen, was astonished that it had not revealed the presence of the explosive gas. At any rate, if the gas had mingled at all with the surrounding air, it could only be in a very small stream. There was no danger of an explosion, and they might without fear open the safety lamp to try the experiment, just as the old miner had done before. What troubled James Starr was, not lest too much gas mingled with the air, but lest there should be little or none. “Could they have been mistaken?” he murmured. “No: these men know what they are about. And yet—” He waited, not without some anxiety, until Simon Ford’s phenomenon should have taken place. But just then it seemed that Harry, like himself, had remarked the absence of the characteristic odor of fire-damp; for he exclaimed in an altered voice, “Father, I should say the gas was no longer escaping through the cracks!” “No longer!” cried the old miner—and, pressing his lips tight together, he snuffed the air several times. Then, all at once, with a sudden movement, “Hand me your lamp, Harry,” he said. Ford took the lamp with a trembling hand. He drew off the wire gauze case which surrounded the wick, and the flame burned in the open air. As they had expected, there was no explosion, but, what was more serious, there was not even the slight crackling which indicates the presence of a small quantity of firedamp. Simon took the stick which Harry was holding, fixed his lamp to the end of it, and raised it high above his head, up to where the gas, by reason of its buoyancy, would naturally accumulate. The flame of the lamp, burning straight and clear, revealed no trace of the carburetted hydrogen. “Close to the wall,” said the engineer. “Yes,” responded Ford, carrying the lamp to that part of the wall at which he and his son had, the evening before, proved the escape of gas. The old miner’s arm trembled whilst he tried to hoist the lamp up. “Take my place, Harry,” said he. Harry took the stick, and successively presented the lamp to the different fissures in the rock; but he shook his head, for of that slight crackling peculiar to escaping fire-damp he heard nothing. There was no flame. Evidently not a particle of gas was escaping through the rock. “Nothing!” cried Ford, clenching his fist with a gesture rather of anger than disappointment. A cry escaped Harry. “What’s the matter?” asked Starr quickly. “Someone has stopped up the cracks in the schist!” “Is that true?” exclaimed the old miner. “Look, father!” Harry was not mistaken. The obstruction of the fissures was clearly visible by the light of the lamp. It had been recently done with lime, leaving on the rock a long whitish mark, badly concealed with coal dust. “It’s he!” exclaimed Harry. “It can only be he!” “He?” repeated James Starr in amazement. “Yes!” returned the young man, “that mysterious being who haunts our domain, for whom I have watched a hundred times without being able to get at him—the author, we may now be certain, of that letter which was intended to hinder you from coming to see my father, Mr. Starr, and who finally threw that stone at us in the gallery of the Yarrow shaft! Ah! there’s no doubt about it; there is a man’s hand in all that!” Harry spoke with such energy that conviction came instantly and fully to the engineer’s mind. As to the old overman, he was already convinced. Besides, there they were in the presence of an undeniable fact—the stopping-up of cracks through which gas had escaped freely the night before. “Take your pick, Harry,” cried Ford; “mount on my shoulders, my lad! I am still strong enough to bear you!” The young man understood in an instant. His father propped himself up against the rock. Harry got upon his shoulders, so that with his pick he could reach the line of the fissure. Then with quick sharp blows he attacked it. Almost directly afterwards a slight sound was heard, like champagne escaping from a bottle—a sound commonly expressed by the word “puff.” Harry again seized his lamp, and held it to the opening. There was a slight report; and a little red flame, rather blue at its outline, flickered over the rock like a Will-o’-the-Wisp. Harry leaped to the ground, and the old overman, unable to contain his joy, grasped the engineer’s hands, exclaiming, “Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! Mr. Starr. The fire-damp burns! the vein is there!” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (1998). The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1353/pg1353-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

SIMON FORD’S EXPERIMENT

The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE DOCHART PIT here CHAPTER III. THE DOCHART PIT Harry Ford was a fine, strapping fellow of five and twenty. His grave looks, his habitually passive expression, had from childhood been noticed among his comrades in the mine. His regular features, his deep blue eyes, his curly hair, rather chestnut than fair, the natural grace of his person, altogether made him a fine specimen of a lowlander. Accustomed from his earliest days to the work of the mine, he was strong and hardy, as well as brave and good. Guided by his father, and impelled by his own inclinations, he had early begun his education, and at an age when most lads are little more than apprentices, he had managed to make himself of some importance, a leader, in fact, among his fellows, and few are very ignorant in a country which does all it can to remove ignorance. Though, during the first years of his youth, the pick was never out of Harry’s hand, nevertheless the young miner was not long in acquiring sufficient knowledge to raise him into the upper class of the miners, and he would certainly have succeeded his father as overman of the Dochart pit, if the colliery had not been abandoned. James Starr was still a good walker, yet he could not easily have kept up with his guide, if the latter had not slackened his pace. The young man, carrying the engineer’s bag, followed the left bank of the river for about a mile. Leaving its winding course, they took a road under tall, dripping trees. Wide fields lay on either side, around isolated farms. In one field a herd of hornless cows were quietly grazing; in another sheep with silky wool, like those in a child’s toy sheep fold. The Yarrow shaft was situated four miles from Callander. Whilst walking, James Starr could not but be struck with the change in the country. He had not seen it since the day when the last ton of Aberfoyle coal had been emptied into railway trucks to be sent to Glasgow. Agricultural life had now taken the place of the more stirring, active, industrial life. The contrast was all the greater because, during winter, field work is at a standstill. But formerly, at whatever season, the mining population, above and below ground, filled the scene with animation. Great wagons of coal used to be passing night and day. The rails, with their rotten sleepers, now disused, were then constantly ground by the weight of wagons. Now stony roads took the place of the old mining tramways. James Starr felt as if he was traversing a desert. The engineer gazed about him with a saddened eye. He stopped now and then to take breath. He listened. The air was no longer filled with distant whistlings and the panting of engines. None of those black vapors which the manufacturer loves to see, hung in the horizon, mingling with the clouds. No tall cylindrical or prismatic chimney vomited out smoke, after being fed from the mine itself; no blast-pipe was puffing out its white vapor. The ground, formerly black with coal dust, had a bright look, to which James Starr’s eyes were not accustomed. When the engineer stood still, Harry Ford stopped also. The young miner waited in silence. He felt what was passing in his companion’s mind, and he shared his feelings; he, a child of the mine, whose whole life had been passed in its depths. “Yes, Harry, it is all changed,” said Starr. “But at the rate we worked, of course the treasures of coal would have been exhausted some day. Do you regret that time?” “I do regret it, Mr. Starr,” answered Harry. “The work was hard, but it was interesting, as are all struggles.” “No doubt, my lad. A continuous struggle against the dangers of landslips, fires, inundations, explosions of firedamp, like claps of thunder. One had to guard against all those perils! You say well! It was a struggle, and consequently an exciting life.” “The miners of Alva have been more favored than the miners of Aberfoyle, Mr. Starr!” “Ay, Harry, so they have,” replied the engineer. “Indeed,” cried the young man, “it’s a pity that all the globe was not made of coal; then there would have been enough to last millions of years!” “No doubt there would, Harry; it must be acknowledged, however, that nature has shown more forethought by forming our sphere principally of sandstone, limestone, and granite, which fire cannot consume.” “Do you mean to say, Mr. Starr, that mankind would have ended by burning their own globe?” “Yes! The whole of it, my lad,” answered the engineer. “The earth would have passed to the last bit into the furnaces of engines, machines, steamers, gas factories; certainly, that would have been the end of our world one fine day!” “There is no fear of that now, Mr. Starr. But yet, the mines will be exhausted, no doubt, and more rapidly than the statistics make out!” “That will happen, Harry; and in my opinion England is very wrong in exchanging her fuel for the gold of other nations! I know well,” added the engineer, “that neither hydraulics nor electricity has yet shown all they can do, and that some day these two forces will be more completely utilized. But no matter! Coal is of a very practical use, and lends itself easily to the various wants of industry. Unfortunately man cannot produce it at will. Though our external forests grow incessantly under the influence of heat and water, our subterranean forests will not be reproduced, and if they were, the globe would never be in the state necessary to make them into coal.” James Starr and his guide, whilst talking, had continued their walk at a rapid pace. An hour after leaving Callander they reached the Dochart pit. The most indifferent person would have been touched at the appearance this deserted spot presented. It was like the skeleton of something that had formerly lived. A few wretched trees bordered a plain where the ground was hidden under the black dust of the mineral fuel, but no cinders nor even fragments of coal were to be seen. All had been carried away and consumed long ago. They walked into the shed which covered the opening of the Yarrow shaft, whence ladders still gave access to the lower galleries of the pit. The engineer bent over the opening. Formerly from this place could be heard the powerful whistle of the air inhaled by the ventilators. It was now a silent abyss. It was like being at the mouth of some extinct volcano. When the mine was being worked, ingenious machines were used in certain shafts of the Aberfoyle colliery, which in this respect was very well off; frames furnished with automatic lifts, working in wooden slides, oscillating ladders, called “man-engines,” which, by a simple movement, permitted the miners to descend without danger. But all these appliances had been carried away, after the cessation of the works. In the Yarrow shaft there remained only a long succession of ladders, separated at every fifty feet by narrow landings. Thirty of these ladders placed thus end to end led the visitor down into the lower gallery, a depth of fifteen hundred feet. This was the only way of communication which existed between the bottom of the Dochart pit and the open air. As to air, that came in by the Yarrow shaft, from whence galleries communicated with another shaft whose orifice opened at a higher level; the warm air naturally escaped by this species of inverted siphon. “I will follow you, my lad,” said the engineer, signing to the young man to precede him. “As you please, Mr. Starr.” “Have you your lamp?” “Yes, and I only wish it was still the safety lamp, which we formerly had to use!” “Sure enough,” returned James Starr, “there is no fear of fire-damp explosions now!” Harry was provided with a simple oil lamp, the wick of which he lighted. In the mine, now empty of coal, escapes of light carburetted hydrogen could not occur. As no explosion need be feared, there was no necessity for interposing between the flame and the surrounding air that metallic screen which prevents the gas from catching fire. The Davy lamp was of no use here. But if the danger did not exist, it was because the cause of it had disappeared, and with this cause, the combustible in which formerly consisted the riches of the Dochart pit. Harry descended the first steps of the upper ladder. Starr followed. They soon found themselves in a profound obscurity, which was only relieved by the glimmer of the lamp. The young man held it above his head, the better to light his companion. A dozen ladders were descended by the engineer and his guide, with the measured step habitual to the miner. They were all still in good condition. James Starr examined, as well as the insufficient light would permit, the sides of the dark shaft, which were covered by a partly rotten lining of wood. Arrived at the fifteenth landing, that is to say, half way down, they halted for a few minutes. “Decidedly, I have not your legs, my lad,” said the engineer, panting. “You are very stout, Mr. Starr,” replied Harry, “and it’s something too, you see, to live all one’s life in the mine.” “Right, Harry. Formerly, when I was twenty, I could have gone down all at a breath. Come, forward!” But just as the two were about to leave the platform, a voice, as yet far distant, was heard in the depths of the shaft. It came up like a sonorous billow, swelling as it advanced, and becoming more and more distinct. “Halloo! who comes here?” asked the engineer, stopping Harry. “I cannot say,” answered the young miner. “Is it not your father?” “My father, Mr. Starr? no.” “Some neighbor, then?” “We have no neighbors in the bottom of the pit,” replied Harry. “We are alone, quite alone.” “Well, we must let this intruder pass,” said James Starr. “Those who are descending must yield the path to those who are ascending.” They waited. The voice broke out again with a magnificent burst, as if it had been carried through a vast speaking trumpet; and soon a few words of a Scotch song came clearly to the ears of the young miner. “The Hundred Pipers!” cried Harry. “Well, I shall be much surprised if that comes from the lungs of any man but Jack Ryan.” “And who is this Jack Ryan?” asked James Starr. “An old mining comrade,” replied Harry. Then leaning from the platform, “Halloo! Jack!” he shouted. “Is that you, Harry?” was the reply. “Wait a bit, I’m coming.” And the song broke forth again. In a few minutes, a tall fellow of five and twenty, with a merry face, smiling eyes, a laughing mouth, and sandy hair, appeared at the bottom of the luminous cone which was thrown from his lantern, and set foot on the landing of the fifteenth ladder. His first act was to vigorously wring the hand which Harry extended to him. “Delighted to meet you!” he exclaimed. “If I had only known you were to be above ground to-day, I would have spared myself going down the Yarrow shaft!” “This is Mr. James Starr,” said Harry, turning his lamp towards the engineer, who was in the shadow. “Mr. Starr!” cried Jack Ryan. “Ah, sir, I could not see. Since I left the mine, my eyes have not been accustomed to see in the dark, as they used to do.” “Ah, I remember a laddie who was always singing. That was ten years ago. It was you, no doubt?” “Ay, Mr. Starr, but in changing my trade, I haven’t changed my disposition. It’s far better to laugh and sing than to cry and whine!” “You’re right there, Jack Ryan. And what do you do now, as you have left the mine?” “I am working on the Melrose farm, forty miles from here. Ah, it’s not like our Aberfoyle mines! The pick comes better to my hand than the spade or hoe. And then, in the old pit, there were vaulted roofs, to merrily echo one’s songs, while up above ground!—But you are going to see old Simon, Mr. Starr?” “Yes, Jack,” answered the engineer. “Don’t let me keep you then.” “Tell me, Jack,” said Harry, “what was taking you to our cottage to-day?” “I wanted to see you, man,” replied Jack, “and ask you to come to the Irvine games. You know I am the piper of the place. There will be dancing and singing.” “Thank you, Jack, but it’s impossible.” “Impossible?” “Yes; Mr. Starr’s visit will last some time, and I must take him back to Callander.” “Well, Harry, it won’t be for a week yet. By that time Mr. Starr’s visit will be over, I should think, and there will be nothing to keep you at the cottage.” “Indeed, Harry,” said James Starr, “you must profit by your friend Jack’s invitation.” “Well, I accept it, Jack,” said Harry. “In a week we will meet at Irvine.” “In a week, that’s settled,” returned Ryan. “Good-by, Harry! Your servant, Mr. Starr. I am very glad to have seen you again! I can give news of you to all my friends. No one has forgotten you, sir.” “And I have forgotten no one,” said Starr. “Thanks for all, sir,” replied Jack. “Good-by, Jack,” said Harry, shaking his hand. And Jack Ryan, singing as he went, soon disappeared in the heights of the shaft, dimly lighted by his lamp. A quarter of an hour afterwards James Starr and Harry descended the last ladder, and set foot on the lowest floor of the pit. From the bottom of the Yarrow shaft radiated numerous empty galleries. They ran through the wall of schist and sandstone, some shored up with great, roughly-hewn beams, others lined with a thick casing of wood. In every direction embankments supplied the place of the excavated veins. Artificial pillars were made of stone from neighboring quarries, and now they supported the ground, that is to say, the double layer of tertiary and quaternary soil, which formerly rested on the seam itself. Darkness now filled the galleries, formerly lighted either by the miner’s lamp or by the electric light, the use of which had been introduced in the mines. “Will you not rest a while, Mr. Starr?” asked the young man. “No, my lad,” replied the engineer, “for I am anxious to be at your father’s cottage.” “Follow me then, Mr. Starr. I will guide you, and yet I daresay you could find your way perfectly well through this dark labyrinth.” “Yes, indeed! I have the whole plan of the old pit still in my head.” Harry, followed by the engineer, and holding his lamp high the better to light their way, walked along a high gallery, like the nave of a cathedral. Their feet still struck against the wooden sleepers which used to support the rails. They had not gone more than fifty paces, when a huge stone fell at the feet of James Starr. “Take care, Mr. Starr!” cried Harry, seizing the engineer by the arm. “A stone, Harry! Ah! these old vaultings are no longer quite secure, of course, and—” “Mr. Starr,” said Harry Ford, “it seems to me that stone was thrown, thrown as by the hand of man!” “Thrown!” exclaimed James Starr. “What do you mean, lad?” “Nothing, nothing, Mr. Starr,” replied Harry evasively, his anxious gaze endeavoring to pierce the darkness. “Let us go on. Take my arm, sir, and don’t be afraid of making a false step.” “Here I am, Harry.” And they both advanced, whilst Harry looked on every side, throwing the light of his lamp into all the corners of the gallery. “Shall we soon be there?” asked the engineer. “In ten minutes at most.” “Good.” “But,” muttered Harry, “that was a most singular thing. It is the first time such an accident has happened to me. “That stone falling just at the moment we were passing.” “Harry, it was a mere chance.” “Chance,” replied the young man, shaking his head. “Yes, chance.” He stopped and listened. “What is the matter, Harry?” asked the engineer. “I thought I heard someone walking behind us,” replied the young miner, listening more attentively. Then he added, “No, I must have been mistaken. Lean harder on my arm, Mr. Starr. Use me like a staff.” “A good solid staff, Harry,” answered James Starr. “I could not wish for a better than a fine fellow like you.” They continued in silence along the dark nave. Harry was evidently preoccupied, and frequently turned, trying to catch, either some distant noise, or remote glimmer of light. But behind and before, all was silence and darkness. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (1998). The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1353/pg1353-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE DOCHART PIT

110 Stories To Learn About Graphql

369 Stories To Learn About Database

Let's learn about via these 53 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the to find the most read stories about any technology. Apis /Learn Repo 1. Public ASX100 APIs: The Essential List We’ve conducted some initial research into the public APIs of the ASX100 because we regularly have conversations about what others are doing with their APIs and what best practices look like. Being able to point to good local examples and explain what is happening in Australia is a key part of this conversation. 2. How To Monitor Your API Server 'Have you developed or are you in the process of creating an API Server that will be used on a production or cloud environment? In this 4th instalment of my Node JS Performance Optimizations series, I show you how to test the availability of your API Server, so that you can understand how many requests per second it can handle whilst performing heavy duty tasks. 3. Get Your Postman Workspace Organized Learn tricks for Postman that ease your Workspace organization! 4. A Guide to Delivering a Low-code API This guide will take you through the steps to build and host an API using a low-code platform. 5. How To Build An API Without Coding [Python] I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life as a System Engineer, which means when I first had to build an API, I had no idea how to do it. I knew python quite a bit since as a SysAdmin I often had to write some smaller or bigger scripts, but building the whole API was a challenge for me. Sure — I could just google the phrase and find dozens of tutorials on how to build an API, but all of them were somehow complicated or created for raw developers (which means — with assumptions that you know already all the tools and frameworks that developers use). 6. My Experience with GraphQL 7. Working with Salesforce APIs? Of CORS! In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how Cross-Origin Resource Sharing,/CORS, operates. By working with a small Node.js app that interacts with salesforce. 8. Why API Designs are Stuck in the Past The industry has embraced statically typed languages, but API design remains twenty years in the past. Schema driven development presents an opportunity to pull API design into the present. 9. 4 Standard Business Models for API Monetization API has been rapidly driving new opportunities for business in last few years. Read in details how top API monetisation models helps in business growth. 10. How to Introduce Collaboration into your API Development Lifecycle We all know that APIs have become foundational to how organizations streamline integration and build new applications. In essence, they are the connective tissue between different systems, data, and applicationlayers. 11. 51% of Business Leaders Believe They Will Be Left Behind If They Don't Innovate Learn what IT leaders are prioritizing one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, per new research on the adoption of microservices, open-source tech, and more. 12. Creating Developer-Friendly Data Services with Apache Cassandra Using data APIs and advanced data modeling will make it far easier for JSON-oriented developers to connect to Apache Cassandra. 13. How To Define HTTP Middleware and Best Practices In order to capture API calls from arbitrary environments, we had to create middleware for many of the common web API frameworks. Here's what we learnt. 14.  How Do APIs Provide a Foundation for Software Innovation Get a comprehensive Guide about Application Programming Technology or API  in a layman's language. 15. Exploring the API-First Design Pattern Learn how the API-first design pattern is a carbon copy of the successful writing approach that John Vester has leveraged for several years. 16. How To Launch A New Developer Platform That's Self-Service Software Enterprise software companies sell very differently today than just a decade ago. Previously, most software was shrink-wrapped, required a lot of effort to distribute and implement, and was sold to an executive who would have to deploy it throughout their department or organization. The buying process involved a long sales cycle and often included pilots, cost-benefit analyses, procurement, and legal reviews. 17. Here is the Fastest GraphQL Playground It's been 2 months of Firecamp's GraphQL playground launching, throughout this time I have been discussing with so many folks about their GraphQL usage and experience with Playground. 18. Introduction to Containers, Microservices on Kubernetes Containers and Microservices have become the most popular way for new software deployments, and for application re-factoring, such as twelve factor apps. 19. Low-code: Solving the Dark Arts of API Deployment Creating APIs may be easy, but maintenance and deployment is more often than not, time-consuming and difficult. But it doesn't have to be. 20. How We Delivered New Services Without Building New Services Our API serves more than 300 million API calls per year. We used an open source integration platform to deliver new services without building from scratch. 21. API Integration in 2021 and a Look at Insights from 2020 What's next for API integration? Share your thoughts in Cloud Elements' industry survey to win prizes and contribute to the industry-renowned report. 22. How to Design API Analytics Data Collection for High Volume APIs API Analytics are key for any platform company that wants to gain insights into their API and platform usage. These insights can be leveraged by product owners, growth teams, developer relations, and more to make more strategic decisions based on the raw health of your platform business rather than just gut feelings. However, many API platforms have a very high volume of API calls per day. This volume creates a set of unique challenges when designing an analytics system that scales without crippling their platform or having sticker shock when looking at their cloud vendor’s bill. This post goes into some of the inner workings of how we designs Moesif’s API analytics platform to handle companies with billions of API calls a day. 23. An Intro to APIs for Beginners In layman's terms, API is a messenger. API sets the rules for communication. 24. 54% of Developers Cite Lack of Documentation as the Top Obstacle to Consuming APIs Recently, I worked with my team at Postman to field the 2020 State of the API survey and report. We’re insanely grateful to the folks who participated—more than 13,500 developers and other professionals took the survey, helping make this the largest and most comprehensive survey in the industry. (Seriously folks, thank you!) Curious what we learned? Here are a few insights in areas that you might find interesting: 25. 7 Companies with Recipe APIs in 2022 An overview of 7 Companies with recipe APIs in 2022 26. Solving for Real ‘Real-Time’ API Monetization The API Monetization Platform under consideration had an option of choosing between Pay-Per-Use (PPU), Pay-Fixed-Rate (PFR), lease-based, subscription-based and 27. Stoplight's Open-Source October: Hacktoberfest Involvement & Pull-Requests for Trees Complete an open-source pull request from one of our open-source tools, & we will plan 400 trees in your honor to celebrate Open-Source October & Hacktoberfest. 28. How to Choose the Best API Integration Platform Discover the most important things to consider when choosing an API integration platform for your B2B SaaS company. 29. 5 Major Factors Impacting the Evolution of APIs In today’s world of ever-increasing digital interconnectivity, APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) have emerged as essential tools for  integrating data efficiently and cost-effectively. 30. Building Maintenance Mode for your API Gateway Using Terraform In my previous blog post, I went through how to create a maintenance mode page for your application, and how to implement it using Terraform and github pages. But the website is just one part of an Application, and often there’s also a public (or private) API that also needs to have a maintenance mode. Let’s see how we can do that using Terraform on API Gateway. 31. Another approach to design API for improved performance! GraphQL is an amazing specification, no doubt about that. I loved it when it first came into my knowledge but as I started learning it, well, I started to hate it and I still do at some extent because I am still learning it. So much boilerplate code to even starting the graphQL server. 32. Open banking and APIs Can Work Wonders for Crypto Startups Before the pandemic, the crypto startup scene had a nemesis: lacking demand. In 2021, this changed radically—the number of people leveraging cryptocurrencies reached almost 300 million, and venture capitalists invested a record $25.2 billion in blockchain companies, an eight-fold increase from the previous year, according to a new CB Insights report. 33. API Choice Overload With so many approaches to proper API design, development and management, it’s pretty easy to get lost just in the planning process. 34. How to Build Email Lookup Extension for Chrome HazelBase is a powerful identity network that collects data from the internet and provides users with a wealth of information. 35. Learn How to Build an HTTP API with Rust In this article, I'll write about the developer experience of developing the above application in Rust, compared to what I'm used to with Spring Boot. 36. My Best Travel APIs APIs are useful tools in general but can be made exceptionally useful when combining a number of them to accumulate information to help you plan trips. 37. Never Make Assumptions: 5 Golden Rules for Web App Development No matter if you are a startup company or a big enterprise, your app needs to be intuitive and customer-facing to win many hearts. However, designing a user-friendly web app for your business is not so easy. You need to be aware of the complete rules. 38. What's New in WSO2 API Manager 3.2.0? WSO2 API Manager 3.2.0 the third release of the API Manager 3.x series, simplifies integrating with other ecosystems while reducing complexity of large scale deployments. 39. 8 Most Popular Weather APIs for 2020 The climate is a hot issue and weather forecasting technology is suddenly cool. The urgent need for innovative weather and environmental conditions forecasting solutions is obvious whether you believe in climate change or not. 40. What Is The True Cost of Using Public APIs How ubiquitous are APIs in today’s development processes? Try asking an engineer how many APIs their project integrates. Most teams won’t know the answer. From analytics tools to maps and cloud hosting, modern applications use a hefty collection of internal and public APIs. Developers use these to quickly assemble applications that would otherwise take much more effort to build. However, there’s a forgotten expense not typically calculated early in a project. 41. Top Tools for Rapid API Development From design to deploy, these tools will have your API and microservices up and running in no time. 42. How & Why We Built a Git Workflow to Accelerate API Testing With the release of ReadyAPI v3.3.0, our all-in-one collaborative API quality platform, the team here at SmartBear completed the first round of work on a rethought Git workflow – all available directly within the tool. 43. Great Tools To Help You Build an Awesome API Learn more about API-FIRST and how it can deliver practical solutions to today's modern IT environment. 44. A Simple Guide to API Development Tools APIs can be as simple as 1 endpoint for use by 100s of users or as complex as the AWS APIs with 1000s of endpoints and 100s of thousands of users. Building them can mean spending a couple of hours using a low-code platform or months of work using a multitude of tools. Hosting them can be as simple as using one platform that does everything we need or as complex as setting up and managing ingress control, security, caching, failover, metrics, scaling etc. 45. What’s the Difference Between APIs and Webhooks? An API (Application Programming Interface) enables two-way communication between software applications driven by requests. A webhook is a lightweight API that powers one-way data sharing triggered by events. 46. GraphQL, Streaming, and RESTful API development Come Together in this Open Source Software Swell is a cross-platform compatible (Mac, Linux, & Windows) desktop application and the leading API dev tool for testing and visualizing steaming TCP connections (ie WebSockets, SSEs, GraphQL subscriptions). Swell functions similarly to Postman, but with the added perks of full streaming and GraphQL support. Being an Open Source project, Swell is 100% free and open to outside contributions. 47. How to Deploy Java GraphQL APIs Using Apifi — A Quick Start Guide A Quick Start Guide to Getting a Java GraphQL API up and Running in no time Using Apifi. 48. API Development in the Time of COVID-19 Let’s face it. 49. REST API Tools Smackdown Introduction 50. A Brief Guide to Everything You Need to Know About APIs In this article, we will be discussing in-depth APIs and web services. Also learn the basics of making an API call, its vulnerabilities, and the future. 51. 13 API Metrics That Every Platform Team Should be Tracking A list of the most important API metrics every API product manager and engineer should know, especially when you are looking into API analytics and reporting. 52. What is REST APIs? In this blog, I am going to discuss REST API, what is Rest API, what is the use of REST API and how it works. So I hope you will get some idea about the REST API after reading this blog. 53. An API-First Approach For Designing Restful APIs I’ve been working with Restful APIs for some time now and one thing that I love to do is to talk about APIs. Thank you for checking out the 53 most read stories about Apis on HackerNoon. to find the most read stories about any technology. Visit the /Learn Repo

53 Stories To Learn About Apis

It's been 2 months of , throughout this time I have been discussing with so many folks about their GraphQL usage and experience with Playground. Firecamp's GraphQL playground launching I am so privileged to have meaningful insights and have great feedback from the community, and based on that we implemented new features, changed DX and put a focus on accessibility. This week we have launched a new revamped version of GraphQL playground with all these following productive and time-saving features. So, here is the list of weapons to stay prepared for the GraphQL war. Magical Playground Single/Multiple File upload Query collection (One-click save playground queries) Interactive Query Variables Query Documents Save & Export GraphQL request Let me go through with all these goodies one by one. 1. Magical Playground It's a query-writing area, where we can write any query and hit cmd+enter to execute it. The takeaway is we can write N number of queries. To execute one query from the playground, just bring the cursor to the query area and hit the play button. That query will become an active query and get executed on the play-button click. means, to set any query as active query, just bring the cursor to its context area in a playground (set cursor in-between start and end line of per query) 2. Single/Multiple File upload Uploading a file with GraphQL is a bit hurdle at this moment as it's not mature for file handling but the community is seriously trying to fill this gap. supports file uploading with this community-driven specifications. To upload a file, just select files from the bottom section of the playground and use the $files variables in a query as variable. see this live-action from the below video. Firecamp GraphQL playground 3. Query collection (One-click save playground queries) Query collection is the previously saved query's list, which helps us to avoid the repetition task of writing the query again and again. and also it 's sharable by exporting the GraphQL request configuration. If the area having 2 queries and 3 mutations then to save them in a collection we just need to click on the Save to collection button. All the queries, mutations and subscriptions will get saved with their original name. playground 4. Interactive Query Variables Variables vary with query by query. As shown in the below video, By changing the active query, the variable section will get reflect with new active query's variables. We can edit those variables like JSON editor, JSON-like-form or Table form. just change the option from caret shown on the right side. 5. Query/Schema Documentation As of now, is using a modified version of GraphiQL's query Document. It's pretty neat and clean. It shows the entire schema documentation of the GraphQL server implementation. Firecamp GraphQL playground 6. Save & Export GraphQL request focuses on persistency. It's configurable, sharable, and storable for future usage and collaboration purpose. Firecamp GraphQL playground Here we can add queries to the collection, and save the request within the project. Anytime later we can have single-click access to our saved GraphQL queries. and start executing in a matter of seconds. Team collaboration feature is in private beta, Apply for Team Access Thank you so much for reading this blog. Feel free to share anything you want that improves developer productivity. Please follow on Twitter and I would be happy to connect for discussion @FirecampHQ @Nishchit14

Stories, News & Mentions about FIREKAMP

Firekamp’s Stories on HackerNoon