Allies Computing Ltd.
Introduction
The Postcoder Docs is a portal that offers a quick start guide, sample code, an API reference and other resources to help developers integrate Postcoder, the API for address lookup and form validation.
The portal shows developers how to add Postcoder features to their own sign-up forms and checkout pages. These features help users fill-in their details more quickly and help developers capture better quality data - it's a win-win.
The team behind Postcoder is Allies Computing, a 100% employee-owned company with a 100% remote team of 18 people based in the UK.
Why nominated
The Postcoder Docs was custom-built from the ground up and is optimised for both desktop and mobile users. Navigation menus and breadcrumbs guide developers around the portal, and next and previous links provide seamless navigation between endpoints.
The quick start guide walks developers and app builders through five simple steps from signing up to going live. Links to relevant pages - such as pricing and API key security - are clearly signposted and chosen carefully to avoid information overload.
Sample code is provided for every Postcoder endpoint in JavaScript, Python, PHP and C#, and is laid out across clearly labelled pages and sections for ease of access.
The API reference groups endpoints into logical sections such as Address lookup, Email validation and Mobile validation, mirroring the structure of the main Postcoder website. This parity allows developers to bring others on their team, such as procurement and finance people, quickly up-to-speed with audience-relevant content.
Each endpoint is described in detail and has a dedicated page and link. Each page adopts the same layout for consistency and to assist developers that are integrating multiple endpoints. Request URLs, path parameters, querystring parameters, response fields are defined and described. CSS styles emphasise code elements, required fields and optional fields for readability. Example requests using a demo API key and JSON responses are included for each endpoint, along with best practice integration advice.
Feedback from developers is welcomed and regularly reviewed, with content changes and improvements released almost weekly during the last year.
Integrating Postcoder is a truly positive experience thanks to the detail, consistency, readability, usefulness and empathy of the Postcoder Docs, and these strengths make it a top contender for the Best API Reference Documentation category.
