Application Programming Interface API

A defined way for one piece of software to ask another for data or for an action, without either one knowing how the other is built.

Also known as web API REST API programming interface

Definition

An API is a contract. One side promises "send me a request shaped like this and I will answer like that", and the other side can then be rewritten, moved or replaced without breaking anything that depends on it.

That is why almost every integration you will ever pay for — a payment gateway, a shipping rate, a login with Google — is an API call underneath.

Questions about Application Programming Interface

Is an API the same as a website?
No. A website returns pages for a person to read; an API returns data for another program to use. The same system often offers both.

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