Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Apress

Data-Driven Alexa Skills

Voice Access to Rich Data Sources for Enterprise Applications

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Simon A. Kingaby

    1. La Vergne, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Covers accessing data from Internet data sources
  • Addresses the needs of business users and those creating serious applications
  • Demonstrates best practices: source code mgmt, DevOps, CI, unit testing, Agile development

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (17 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Getting Started

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Voice User Interfaces

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 3-14

    3. Routines and Blueprints

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 15-25

    4. The Developer Accounts

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 27-44

    5. Creating the VUI for a Custom Data-Driven Skill

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 45-85

    6. Writing the Back-End Code

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 87-117

    7. Publishing an Alexa Skill

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 119-141

  3. Custom Skill Development

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Custom Alexa Skills

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 145-171

    3. Beyond Hello World

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 173-204

    4. Configuring the VUI

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 205-214

    5. Using APL to Present on Screens

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 215-242

    6. Coding the Lambda Function

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 243-268

    7. Unit Testing an Alexa Skill

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 269-296

    8. Storing the Data

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 297-326

  4. Using APIs in Advanced Skills

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 327-327
      Download chapter PDF

    2. A Personal Net Worth Skill

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 329-364

    3. The Real Estate API

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 365-385

    4. The Stock Market API

      • Simon A. Kingaby
      Pages 387-404
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

Design and build innovative, custom, data-driven Alexa skills for home or business. Working through several projects, this book teaches you how to build Alexa skills and integrate them with online APIs. If you have basic Python skills, this book will show you how to build data-driven Alexa skills. You will learn to use data to give your Alexa skills dynamic intelligence, in-depth knowledge, and the ability to remember.

Data-Driven Alexa Skills takes a step-by-step approach to skill development. You will begin by configuring simple skills in the Alexa Skill Builder Console. Then you will develop advanced custom skills that use several Alexa Skill Development Kit features to integrate with lambda functions, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Internet data feeds. These advanced skills enable you to link user accounts, query and store data using a NoSQL database, and access real estate listings and stock prices via web APIs.






What You Will Learn
  • Set up and configure your development environment properly the first time
  • Build Alexa skills quickly and efficiently using Agile tools and techniques
  • Create a variety of data-driven Alexa skills for home and business
  • Access data from web applications and Internet data sources via their APIs
  • Test with unit-testing frameworks throughout the development life cycle
  • Manage and query your data using the DynamoDb NoSQL database engines



Who This Book Is For


Developers who wish to go beyond Hello World and build complex, data-driven applications on Amazon's Alexa platform; developers who want to learn how to use Lambda functions, the Alexa Skills SDK, Alexa Presentation Language, and Alexa Conversations; developers interested in integrating with public APIs such as real estatelistings and stock market prices. Readers will need to have basic Python skills.



Authors and Affiliations

  • La Vergne, USA

    Simon A. Kingaby

About the author

Simon Kingaby is a software developer, programming professor, and public speaker residing in middle Tennessee. He believes that voice user interfaces will change the world and that tools like Alexa are just the tip of the iceberg. He spends his days moving data for Deloitte Global and teaching DataViz and FinTech at Vanderbilt University. In 2016, he published his first Alexa skill and has been enthralled by voice development ever since. In 2017, his uncle suddenly went blind and Simon began exploring ways Alexa could be used to help the blind by developing skills from “What’s the time?” and home navigation skills to smart home skills like “Turn on the coffee pot." In 2019 that same uncle committed suicide, and Simon turned his attention to mental health issues and using Alexa to help identify and prevent suicidal behavior. Now he is focused on enabling developers to use their programming abilities to build data-driven Alexa skills that will make a real difference in the world.

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation