What's An API And Why Should You Love It?
An API, also known as an application programming interface, is a set of tools that provide various complex functions for developers that can be accessed easily. Without an API, if a developers wanted to get the current temperature, they would have to custom write a lot of code just to get that little piece of data. With an API, the host of the current temperature provides a simple "socket" for the developer to simply grab the data from. Since many developers would want to get that piece of data, it makes sense that the weather provider would already create a "socket" for developers to plug into and grab the data.
An API, written in XML code, is hosted on a remote source. An application can communicate to this remote source through a series of calls, managed by web services, which are protocols used to standardized this communication. The XML code of the API contains chunks of code for each piece of data the developer could request. Grabbing the current temperature requires XML code that was written explicitly to provide that data.
With access to this API, a developer can then write their own XML code to interface with the remote XML code. Let's say a person wanted to build a house. If they did it completely from scratch, and I mean from the ground up, they might need to start chopping down some trees. The logs would then need to be cut into planks. If nails are used, the builder would have to smelt their own metal, and form it into nails. If they wanted windows, the sand would need to be melted down. That sounds like a lot of work! But if there are other folks that provide materials to build a house, the person would just need to access the materials instead of creating them from scratch. This saves a great deal of time, and also assures that the materials aren't faulty (hopefully). The nail man really knows his nails, the wood man really knows his.. wood. Now you can see that with an API, a developer can efficiently build his application by accessing this interface.
With mobile applications, you can quickly see why mobile and API are a match made in heaven. A mobile device is (mostly) always online, and an API is a remote construct of code that can be accessed - communication is nearly guaranteed. The industry has embraced mobile-first, but coming along nicely is an API-first approach, part of the "Mobile Backend as a Service" strategy. Through third-party services, a developer has access to functions that we've come to associate with mobile applications - push notifications, location, messaging, and so on. This reusability allows developers to focus more on the function of their application. For example, cross-platform applications are much easier to create because, through APIs, the central data for the user can easily be accessed from a mobile, web, or desktop application. This makes the mobile application more valuable - if the user can create a list on their phone, and see it on their account in a browser, then they are more likely to use the application in the future.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/JavaScript/Client-side_web_APIs/Introduction
https://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/how-to-leverage-an-api-for-conferencing2.htm
https://www.ctl.io/developers/blog/post/what-is-backend-as-a-service
An API, written in XML code, is hosted on a remote source. An application can communicate to this remote source through a series of calls, managed by web services, which are protocols used to standardized this communication. The XML code of the API contains chunks of code for each piece of data the developer could request. Grabbing the current temperature requires XML code that was written explicitly to provide that data.
With access to this API, a developer can then write their own XML code to interface with the remote XML code. Let's say a person wanted to build a house. If they did it completely from scratch, and I mean from the ground up, they might need to start chopping down some trees. The logs would then need to be cut into planks. If nails are used, the builder would have to smelt their own metal, and form it into nails. If they wanted windows, the sand would need to be melted down. That sounds like a lot of work! But if there are other folks that provide materials to build a house, the person would just need to access the materials instead of creating them from scratch. This saves a great deal of time, and also assures that the materials aren't faulty (hopefully). The nail man really knows his nails, the wood man really knows his.. wood. Now you can see that with an API, a developer can efficiently build his application by accessing this interface.
With mobile applications, you can quickly see why mobile and API are a match made in heaven. A mobile device is (mostly) always online, and an API is a remote construct of code that can be accessed - communication is nearly guaranteed. The industry has embraced mobile-first, but coming along nicely is an API-first approach, part of the "Mobile Backend as a Service" strategy. Through third-party services, a developer has access to functions that we've come to associate with mobile applications - push notifications, location, messaging, and so on. This reusability allows developers to focus more on the function of their application. For example, cross-platform applications are much easier to create because, through APIs, the central data for the user can easily be accessed from a mobile, web, or desktop application. This makes the mobile application more valuable - if the user can create a list on their phone, and see it on their account in a browser, then they are more likely to use the application in the future.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/JavaScript/Client-side_web_APIs/Introduction
https://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/how-to-leverage-an-api-for-conferencing2.htm
https://www.ctl.io/developers/blog/post/what-is-backend-as-a-service
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