As discussed in Overview of Watson Explorer Engine and Watson Explorer Engine Applications, end-user Watson Explorer Engine search applications are typically either created in the Watson Explorer Engine administration tool, which provides a graphical, web-based development environment that is customized for Watson Explorer Engine application development. OEM and embedded Watson Explorer Engine search applications are typically created in an IDE or text editor using the Watson Explorer Engine Application Programming Interface (API) through SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) or REST (Representational State Transfer). This API enables developers to programmatically:
Developing Watson Explorer Engine search application components through the Watson Explorer Engine administration tool and developing applications using the Watson Explorer Engine API are completely compatible. Configuration components created through the administration tool can be leveraged in API-based applications, and vice-versa. To facilitate development, developers are encouraged to configure as many objects as possible through the administrative tool. This tool provides a user-friendly interface for creating the XML structures used by Watson Explorer Engine search applications. These objects can then be used to provide a base configuration for programmatically created objects. Consequently, we recommend being familiar with Watson Explorer Engine concepts, components, and the administrative interface before reading this documentation and attempting to build an application using the API.