Have you ever heard of the “API” ? If not, you should read this article. Today we will talk about what an API means and what is a good example of an API. Let’s find out by reading the article below.
What does API mean?
API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to communicate with each other. Every time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message, or check the weather on your phone, you're using an API.
How an API works?
An API is a defined set of rules that explains how computers or applications communicate with each other. (Usually these rules are documented in the API specification). The API sits between the application and the web server, acting as a middle layer that handles the transfer of data between the systems.
The API works as follows:
Client applications initiate API calls to retrieve information—also known as requests. This request is processed from the application to the web server via the API's Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), including the request verb, headers, and sometimes the request body.
1. After receiving a valid request, the API calls an external program or web server.
2. The server sends a response to the API containing the requested information.
3. The API transfers data to the initial requesting application.
What is a good example of an API?
When you use an app on your phone, the app connects to the Internet and sends data to a server. The server then retrieves that data, interprets it, performs the necessary actions and sends it back to your phone. The app then interprets that data and gives you the information you want in a readable form. That's the API - and all of this happens through the API.
To better explain this, let's take a familiar example. Imagine you are sitting at a table in a restaurant with a menu to choose from. The kitchen is part of the "system" that prepares your order. What's missing is the critical link of communicating your order to the kitchen and getting your food back to the table. This is where a server or API comes in. The waiter is the messenger - or API - that takes your request or order and tells the kitchen - the system - what to do. The waiter then returns the response to you; in this case, it's the food.
This is a real API example. You're probably familiar with the process of searching for flights online. Just like restaurants, you have a variety of options to choose from, including different cities, departure and return dates, and more. Let's say you're booking a flight on an airline website. You can choose your departure city and date, return city and date, travel class, and other variables. In order to book a flight, you need to interact with the airline's website to access their database and see if there are seats available on those dates and what the cost might be.
In this case, the travel service interacts with the airline's API. An API is an interface, like your helpful attendant, that an online travel service can ask to fetch information from an airline's database to reserve seats, luggage options, and more. The API will then pass the airline's response to your request and pass it back to the online travel service correctly, and then show you the latest relevant information.
I hope this article will help you to learn what an API means and what is a good example of an API. An API gateway is an application programming interface (API) management tool that sits between a client and a set of backend services.
