{"id":5196,"date":"2020-12-06T10:58:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T10:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/letket.com\/?p=5196"},"modified":"2020-12-06T10:58:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T10:58:24","slug":"everything-about-api-application-programming-interface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.letket.com\/everything-about-api-application-programming-interface\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything About API (Application Programming Interface)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019ve probably seen the term \u201cAPI\u201d come up. Operating system, web browser, and app updates often announce new APIs for developers. But what is an API?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application Programming Interface<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term API is an acronym, and it stands for \u201cApplication Programming Interface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of an API like a menu in a restaurant. The menu provides a list of dishes you can order, along with a description of each dish. When you specify what menu items you want, the restaurant\u2019s kitchen does the work and provides you with some finished dishes. You don\u2019t know exactly how the restaurant prepares that food, and you don\u2019t really need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, an API lists a bunch of operations that developers can use, along with a description of what they do. The developer doesn\u2019t necessarily need to know how, for example, an operating system builds and presents a \u201cSave As\u201d dialog box. They just need to know that it\u2019s available for use in their app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a perfect metaphor. Developers will have to provide their own data to the API to get the results. It\u2019s more like a fancy restaurant where you can provide some of your own ingredients the kitchen will work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s broadly accurate. APIs allow developers to save time by taking advantage of a platform\u2019s implementation to do the nitty-gritty work. This helps reduce the amount of code developers need to create. It also helps create more consistency across apps for the same platform. APIs can control access to hardware and software resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An API Provides a Layer of Security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Your phone\u2019s data is never fully exposed to the server. Likewise the server is never fully exposed to your phone. Instead, each communicates with small packets of data, sharing only that which is necessary\u2014like ordering takeout. You tell the restaurant what you would like to eat. The restaurant tells you what they need in return and then, in the end, you get your meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APIs have become so valuable<\/a> that they comprise a large part of many business\u2019 revenue. Major companies like Google, eBay, Salesforce.com, Amazon, and Expedia are just a few of the companies that make money from their APIs. What the \u201cAPI economy<\/a>\u201d refers to is this marketplace of APIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Modern API<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, what an \u201cAPI\u201d is has often described any sort of generic connectivity interface to an application. More recently, however, the modern API has taken on some characteristics that make them extraordinarily valuable and useful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n