There are many different definitions used in the internet and software world. Some of these we are all familiar with, and some we have not even heard of. If you’re not a software developer, you don’t need to hear it. However, there is one of them, which, even if we do not master it, we should know that it exists; API. If you can use any internet-based application, be sure it is only because of the API interface.
The API interface connects the software, ensures that things work correctly in the internet world, and creates the most important firewall of the users, even if we are not aware of it. For this reason, it is seen as one of the digital areas that both spend the most money and earn the most money. Let’s take a closer look at the questions like what is the API, what is it for, how does it work.
What is API?
Application Programming Interface, in Turkish, Application Programming Interface, in short API; In its broadest definition, it is a protocol that provides the connection between two software and a server. The API provides the connection between the application that the user is using, the server that the application is using, and the software that the server sees as a resource.
Where is the API used?
I mean everywhere, rest assured you won’t be wrong. APIs are used in software libraries, internet-based applications, hardware, operating systems and different databases. Since it provides the connection between the client and the server, the API plays a leading role in all applications accessed over the internet.
How does the API work?
You open an Internet-based application and do something, anything. The request for what you are doing is passed to the server by the API. The server references the resource with this request. The source provides feedback to the server. The server passes this return through the API to the application, and as a result, you see what you did in the application.
What does the API do?
It is a clear fact that the API interface is the most important actor necessary for the operation of the existing system. However, this is not its only function. The API also creates a firewall for users. Full security of your data is ensured as you send only a single request to the presentation via API instead of sharing all your data with the application’s common server. In this respect, the API also acts as a key.
How long has the API been used?
Even though all these systems seem new, in fact, the first foundations of the API interface were laid in the 1940s while working on modular software libraries. Our first encounter with the Application Program Interface was in an article published in 1968. API, which made a name for itself in the 1970s, gained its final definition in the 1990s and was defined as a series of services put forward to fulfill certain tasks.
What are the API types?
- Open API or Public API is open to everyone, with or without a key.
- Internal API or Private API is used in internal systems and is closed to other users.
- Partner API is used between multiple partners and is closed to other users.
- Composite API combines API interfaces of multiple data and services.
Is the API really necessary?
Let’s think like this; There is an iOS mobile app and it needs to use the iPhone camera. Without the API, this developer would have had to build camera software from scratch. An Android mobile application with fingerprint support would have to create a special fingerprint software for each device if it did not use the API.
These are just some of the obvious examples. Even the API is used to check the weather on your smartphone. Even a simple dialog window in Windows OS is provided via API. In other words, if API interfaces were not used so widely, we would all have to develop special software for our own devices.
A clear API example:
People may be rightly confused, so let’s take a look at this example. You sat in a restaurant, looked at the menu, ordered the waiter, the waiter told the kitchen your order, the food was prepared, the waiter brought your food and happy ending. The role of the API in the digital world is the same as the waiter in this story.
We answered questions such as what is the API that connects software and forms the basis of internet-based applications, what it does, how it works, and we talked about the details you need to know about the subject.
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