Google Sheet, it has a super clean interface to make collaboration, integration, and visualization delightful and effortless. Today Google Sheets are the secret slings for every knowledge worker out there. From simple data entry to massive project management, the mighty Google Sheets break unleashes all the possibilities.
Google Sheets is really great for everything. But for developers, working directly with a spreadsheet can be annoying. If you are hinting about CSV files, we can conclude they are not nifty for our workflows. This marks the dawning of sheet. best.
After spending tons of hours on new projects and tools, we figured there had to be a simple way of using spreadsheets as a database. A nice layer of REST API on the spreadsheet would be a cherry on top.
From today’s tutorial, let’s find out how to build a cryptocurrency price tracker straight from Google Sheets.
We’ll set up the spreadsheet with some data, add it to the sheet.best, and show how the spreadsheet transforms into REST APIs in less than 60 seconds.
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Fire up the Google Sheet
Open a new blank Google Sheet and input your data.
Here we’ve put together a data set exhibiting the cryptocurrency prices.
Step 2: Generate a shareable link
From the Share option at the top, create a shareable link for the file. Change the privacy to “Anyone with the link on the internet can View.”
Copy the link to your clipboard.
Step 3: Drop to sheet.best
Next up, type sheet.best on your browser and flick on the +Connection button.
Step 4: Paste the spreadsheet URL
On the Connection URL, paste the spreadsheet URL.
Make sure the origin is marked as Google Spreadsheet.
Tap on Connect, and voila. You have created a brand new REST API for your data set.
Step 5: Copy the API or Connection URL
Copy the API or Connection URL to your clipboard.
Step 6: Dive on Postman
You can quickly verify the feasibility of the API from your browser.
What we do in sheet.best is paste the APIs into Postman.
If you’ve never heard of Postman, it’s a straightforward way to send requests to APIs.
Step 7: Wrapping up with JSON data
Move to the Explore section from Postman.
Paste the API URL, and hit Send.
And boom! The spreadsheet is all transformed to JSON data.
Now that our simple API is ready to hit the station, we can create, update, delete (CRUD) on our first-hand backend. Additionally, we can develop a simple UI in React or Vue to show these prices to the concerned users.
If you want to notch things up a bit, pull out other crypto APIs and combine them in the existing spreadsheet. This should put a good show for the users.
The knack for using Google sheet as a REST API is undefinable, but we did have some fun tweaking with crypto prices.
Hopefully, the fun little venture unleashes some of your unique ideas. If you’ve anything fiery for the blog, just shoot!