Tìm bài viết phù hợp

What is API? Definitions and highlights about Application Programming Interface

18/11/20 14:58

Another word for API is “Application Programming Interface”, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to connect to each other. Each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message or check the weather on your phone, you’re using an API.

What exactly is the meaning of an API? Finally learn for yourself in this helpful article from Mule Soft, the API experts.

What is an API?

When you use an application on your mobile phone, the application connects to the Internet and sends data to a server. Then the server retrieves that data and sends it back to your phone immediately. Finally, the application will interpret data and present the information you requested in a readable way. This process is called API - the flow of data happens via API.

To explain this better, let’s go through a familiar example. Imagine you’re sitting at a table in a restaurant and order your meals after reading the menu. The kitchen is part of the “system” that will prepare your order. What is missing here is the critical link to communicate your order to the kitchen and deliver food back to your table. This is where the waiter (or API) comes in. The waiter is the messenger - or API - that takes your order and tells the kitchen what to do. Then the waiter delivers the response back to you; in this case, it is the food.

Here is another real-life example similarity to API:

You may be familiar with the process of searching for flight tickets online. In order to book your flight, you interact with the airline’s website to access their database and see if any seats are available and how much the costs might be. Just like the restaurant, you have a variety of options to choose from, including destinations, luggage, dates, and more.

What if you are not using the airline’s website, but instead using available travel services such as Kayak, Expedia, or Agoda, which also aggregates information from a number of airline databases? The travel service, in this case, interacts with the airline’s API. The API is acted like your helpful waiter, to get information from the airline’s database to book seats, baggage options, etc. The API takes the airline’s response and delivers it right back to the online travel service, then shows you the most updated, relevant information.

The Modern API

Over the years, API has often described any sort of generic connectivity interface to an application. Even so, the modern API has taken on some characteristics that make them extraordinarily valuable and useful:

Modern API is adhered to standards (typically HTTP and REST), that are developer-friendly, easily accessible, and understood broadly.

They are treated more like products than code. They are designed for consumption for specific audiences (e.g., mobile developers), they are documented, and they are versioned in a way that users can have certain expectations of its maintenance and lifecycle.

Because of standardized factors, API has a much stronger discipline for security and governance, as well as monitored and managed for performance and scale

As any other piece of productized software, the modern API has its own software development lifecycle (SDLC) of designing, testing, building, managing, and versioning. Also, modern APIs are well documented for consumption and versioning.

API provides a layer of security

Your phone’s data is never fully exposed to the server, and likewise, the server is never fully exposed to your phone. Alternately, each communication is done with small packets of data, sharing only which is necessary - like ordering takeout. You tell the restaurant what you would like to eat, they tell you what they need in return and then, in the end, you get your meal.

Recently, API software has become so valuable that they comprise a large part of many business’ revenues. Google, eBay, Salesforce, Amazon, and Expedia are just a few of the enterprises that make money from their APIs. What the “API economy” refers to is this marketplace of APIs.

Source: Mule Soft

HR1Tech - Nền Tảng Tuyển Dụng Trực Tuyến Ngành CNTT

Tìm việc và tuyển dụng ngành đa ngành. Khám phá thêm tại: www.hr1jobs.com

Phát triển sự nghiệp

Xem tất cả
10 Kỹ Năng Dành Cho Software Developer

Khám phá 10 kỹ năng quan trọng dành cho Software Developer để thành công trong phát triển phần mềm. Tìm hiểu vai trò và danh sách kỹ năng...

So Sánh Software Developer Và Web Developer

Tìm hiểu sự khác biệt giữa software developer và web developer: công việc, kỹ năng, triển vọng nghề nghiệp. Khám phá nghề nào phù hợp với...

Khác Biệt Giữa Software Engineer Và Software Developer

Khám phá sự khác biệt giữa software engineer và software developer qua vai trò, kỹ năng, lộ trình nghề nghiệp!

Top 10 Chứng Chỉ An Ninh Mạng Cho Chuyên Gia CNTT

Khám phá top 10 chứng chỉ an ninh mạng uy tín giúp bạn nâng cao kỹ năng, phát triển sự nghiệp CNTT và mở rộng cơ hội việc làm. Tìm hiểu...

10 Kỹ Năng AI Giúp Tăng Lương Lên Đến 46%

cKhám phá 10 kỹ năng AI giúp tăng lương lên đến 46%, từ học máy đến trí tuệ nhân tạo tổng quát. Học AI để tăng lương và nâng cao sự...

Thủ Tướng Thúc Đẩy Phổ Cập Kỹ Năng Số Cho Toàn Dân

Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính nhấn mạnh nhiệm vụ cấp bách phổ cập kỹ năng số cho toàn dân, hướng tới xây dựng xã hội số toàn diện. Tìm hiểu...