The Growing Need for API Implementation in Web Development
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APIs act as a bridge between two software or applications and help them communicate. Two separate programmable entities can communicate with one another and share valuable data through APIs. The nature of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) can sway toward the technical side, but many organizations and businesses are now using them to get useful customer information to boost sales.
The rise of APIs in web development is evident from the proliferation of APIs on the internet. Programmable web, a website that records APIs, lists as many as 19,000 APIs, which is far greater than when the website began. This meteoric rise in APIs has been possible because of certain advantages that businesses and organizations are eliciting. Still, APIs need to be used in a greater capacity to help improve the web development process.
Let’s check out the mechanism behind APIs, the need for their implementation, and what the future holds.
A Brief History of APIs:
The proliferation of APIs seems so natural, but once there was a world without these ‘software communicating applications.’ It all began when an e-commerce website, Salesforce, introduced its API in 2000, the first of its kind. Soon after, other giants such as Amazon and eBay launched their APIs to share data between platforms. It meant e-commerce data was available for customization, which developers could use in many ways.
An interconnected world of websites was on its way, with social media websites like Facebook and Twitter releasing their APIs. Facebook’s API gave a goldmine of user data to developers who used it to predict user preferences after taking quizzes. The world of interconnectedness began to shape, with Google coming to the party as they launched the Google Maps API. Today, the interconnectedness of our socials is partly due to a chain of APIs sharing information.
The World of APIs and Its Benefits:
The fluidity and ease of data sharing between different platforms was and currently is the biggest benefit of an API. An API consists of standardized procedures, tools, and protocols so different platforms can interpret them. Such interpretation results in the universality of the code, and thus an ease of operations is achieved.
Developers can avoid the cumbersome coding of each website component by using ready-made APIs. Thus, APIs resemble Lego blocks of web development or an application. An API helps the developer copy-paste developed code for functionality without the hassle of writing it repeatedly. Applications that use ‘Widgets’ is a prime example of APIs.
The back and forth between applications can be tricky, especially if the two applications share a different code. APIs resolve this problem by acting as the middleman, connecting the two non-related applications, and helping them share critical data. So, if you’re searching for an Instagram post or analyzing different tweets on Twitter, it is thanks to an API.
A well-built API can increase the chances of a website performing well. The API helps the website feel more engaging to the user due to many customizations. An interactive and enjoyable experience by the end user elevates the website’s usefulness and helps build trust in the community. It acts as a marketing tool in itself with increased web traffic and a proper footing on the internet.
Types of APIs:
The two main types of APIs are open APIs (or Public APIs) and Private APIs. Open APIs are also known as free APIs, as they are completely free to use and incur no cost. On the other hand, private APIs usually do charge a fee for their usage. Many developers leverage open APIs to construct useful customizations to an already well-built website, therefore increasing the usefulness of that website.
Private APIs are often used in-house at different organizations to improve that company’s website or software. The existing functionality of the company’s resources is used to make customizations for better communications between systems. APIs can also differ in their design and architecture. Here are three different types of APIs differing in their design and functionality:
- The earliest APIs were the RPC or Remote Procedure Call APIs. These APIs executed code on a different server, and by using the HTTP protocol, they acted as APIs.
- An XML-dependent API is the SOAP API. It stands for Simple Object Access Protocol and provides an added layer of security to other APIs. It is often used in finance applications that require added security in the exchange of information.
- Finally, the latest API by design is the REST application programming interface. It allows the developer to request information from the website via HTTP functionality by asking four types of queries. These queries include delete, post, get, and put.
