On Official NUSNextBUS API

Redundant Fields

The /BusStops endpoint returns a list of bus stations. Each station has four fields for its name: LongName, ShortName, Caption and name. However, these fields are often redundant. For example, LongName and Caption usually have the same value, andShortName and name only differ slightly. Here is a sample of the JSON response:

[
  {
    "caption": "Prince George's Park",
    "name": "PGP",
    "LongName": "Prince George's Park",
    "ShortName": "PGP",
    "latitude": 1.291765,
    "longitude": 103.780419
  },
  {
        "caption": "Kent Ridge MRT",
        "name": "KR-MRT",
        "LongName": "Kent Ridge MRT",
        "ShortName": "KR MRT",
        "latitude": 1.29483,
        "longitude": 103.784439
  }
]

Incorrect Data Type

The /BusStops endpoint returns the list of bus stations in JSON format, but the response header specifies the data type as text/html. This can cause problems for clients.

Inconsistent Naming Conventions

The fields and endpoints use different naming conventions, which can be confusing and inconsistent. For instance, the name field is in lower case, while the LongName field is in PascalCase. Similarly, the /publicity endpoint is in lower case, while the /BusStops endpoint is in PascalCase. A more consistent naming convention would, definitely, improve the readability and usability of the API.