APIs or Application Programming Interface are widely discussed especially among developers and those who are highly vested in the IT industry. They are misunderstood, hence it leads to more confusion. So what do we do?
Therefore, we decided to create a simple guide to help you understand the APIs and their significance. You’d be amazed to know that we are always using it. They are always there to help us out and make things less expensive.
So let’s jump right in!
What is an API? – A million-dollar question
Have you ever booked a ticket to travel abroad or inside the country? There are plenty of travel agencies and you can simply go on the website to search for availability by adding your desired time, destination, and route. How does it work? Well, that’s where API plays an integral role.
Now, you have to be very attentive, are you with?
How does an API work?
Listen carefully, so when you have made the request on the agency’s travel site. Its website is connected to the databases of different airlines or their websites. So, API takes the request and brings the requested information back to you. Now, you see, it is is an intermediary between different websites. The information is brought to you by a third party.
Have you heard of “The Restaurant Analogy for API?” It implies that when you visit a restaurant, and you request for your food. Who is at the receiving end to bring you your food. Well, now you must have guessed it. Here is a little illustration for you to visually see the whole function.
The above example is the simplest one to understand the function, role, and significance of an API. Now you can understand that a lot is happening behind the scenes to provide you with the best services. For you, it must be just one click, while devices and applications get to communicate with help of an API.
What are the different types of APIs?
There different types that you can use and create depending upon the purpose behind this development. But here we are going to list the popular APIs that are currently in use.
- Open API
- Internal API
- Partner API
- Composite API
- RESTful API
- JSON-RPC
- XML-RPC,
- SOAP API
But, there are different ways to categorize the APIs depending upon the kind of work that they do such as Data API, External service API, user experience API and so much more. They are the interface between the user and the service requested by the user. Now, that we know about the kind of work API does. We can also explore more about the benefits that come with it.
Wonderful Things you can do with APIs
There are different things that you need to know about API, and that includes all the benefits that come with it. You can acquire all the advantages to save extra time and effort. It has made many things easier for developers to just integrate API and extend the functionality within applications and online web services.
For instance, let’s go over the major benefits that come with APIs.
- APIs make it more easier and convenient to safeguard oneself from all the complexity and background noise. For instance, you don’t have to build things from scratch, you can use API to get the desired function.
- It acts as a gatekeeper to protect data when you can allow certain permissions to the user to access limited data. You don’t have to expose the whole data.
- You can save extra effort and labor in installing things and buildings. For instance, if you want to install user authentication, you can simply use the API for that particular task. Isn’t this remarkable?
- It improves the interaction and communication between different applications and devices. You can see this interaction happening all around you. We use uber and google maps to send a request, and the response is delivered to us. Yes, API is at work here too! So here Alexa isn’t clever, its the API.
- Many apps use information sensitive API to gather information from users, and you must have received notifications on phone. Do you give access to your phone? That is also because of API integration.
There are many web APIs, API architectures, and protocols. If you have any questions related to it, you can ask our experts!
Build your own API- Stand Out!
If you want to know more about APIs such as APIs for e-learning, you click to view the details. Are you looking for any enterprise based API solutions? Don’t wait up, and tell us here.
However, if you want to build your own API. Take the next step today and contact vteams experts. Let’s explore a solution together. You know, as they say, two heads are better than one, isn’t that right?
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