What is API?

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API is an abbreviation for Application Programming Interface. It allows two applications to communicate with each other.

API, or Application Programming Interface, is a software that allows two applications to communicate with each other. They ensure the transfer of data from system to system. Whether shopping from your phone or accessing cloud applications, APIs provide standardized access.

How does this software work? When you use an application on your mobile phone, the application connects to the Internet and sends it data to a server. The server then retrieves that data, interprets it, performs the necessary actions, and sends it back to your phone. The application then interprets that data and presents the desired information in a readable manner.

To clarify this, we will give an example. Suppose you are in a restaurant and the waiter asks what you would like to eat. The waiter is then the messenger, or API, who takes your order and passes it on to the kitchen. Then the over returns your answer, in this case the food.

Why is an API valuable?

APIs have a number of features that make them very valuable and useful today.

APIs adhere to standards that are developer-friendly, easily accessible, and widely understood.
They are treated more like products than code
They have a much stronger discipline for security and governance because they are much more standardized
The software development lifecycle of APIs are well documented