What is API? Types & Benefits of APIs
What is API?
API stands for application program interface. This is a program that is used to connect a software to another software, or to link a website to another website, or to link an application with another application. API is a collection of many commands, functions, protocols and objects that are used by programmers to create software and design models to interact with external systems. This is a simple definition of the API. But to understand this in a better way, we have to resort to example.
Nowadays we see that when we have to travel, we book an online ticket, whether it is a flight or a train, and for this we do not have to book from the official website of ticket airlines or Indian Railways. We can easily book from websites like Make my trip, Paytm, yatra etc. So how many seats are left in an airlines company or train, how many are booked. This information will be only near railways or airways. So the Application Programming Interface (API) does all this information from their official website to the rest of the website.
Another good example is that you must have seen that to open many websites, we are asked to login and there are two more options below.
Login with Google
Login with Facebook
Because nowadays there are many websites where we need to login. If we create such an ID, it will be difficult to remember the password, then Google and Facebook are very big and reliable companies. Therefore, the rest of the small websites allow us to login with their ID and we log in with just a click. So our API provides all the information of email id, user name and password from google or Facebook to the login page of these companies. And we log in easily.
Types of API
- Hardware API
- Web Services API (SOAP, REST, XML-RPC and JSON-RPC)
- Source Code API
- Object Remoting API
- Class based API
- Library based API
Benefits of API
The first advantage of the API is that there is an advantage of the business partner because earlier tickets could be booked from the official website itself. Now tickets can be booked through many websites. Due to which airlines railways movies are also benefited by the owners and the website from which the book is also benefited from the commission. Sites like (Paytm, free-charge, make my trip yatra, etc) are there and the customer also benefits.
The second benefit is that we do not have to write any information in the website or software again. Nor do any updates have to be done as the API automatic works. Therefore, whatever data I have on the website, the automatic API also provides the same data to the rest of the website.
Time saving — Once you have connected the website with the API, then you do not need to do anything.
The API can be easily added with your website or software, for this you do not need to do much, just contact the business partner if they agree then the programmer will easily connect the API.
API development and API integration services
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