An application programming interface or API enables a software or application to utilise features or services of another application, platform, or device. It is a service delivered over the internet, which is:
A network-accessible function
Available using standard web protocols
A well-defined interface
Designed for access by third parties
An API defines the software component in terms of the protocol, data format, and the endpoint for two computer applications to communicate with each other over a network. It integrates databases, applications and devices, making the interaction between data sets and agencies a seamless, automatic process. It empowers a mobile application or platform to share its data with other applications/platforms and eases the user experience. APIs eliminate the need to build a similar program or platform from scratch.
In simple terms, APIs are a set of requirements that govern how two applications can talk to each other.
The characteristics of APIs are:
Easy to learn
Easy to use even without documentation
Hard to misuse
Easy to read and maintain code that uses them
Easy to extend
Industry adoption of API
According to Google’s State of the API Economy in 2021, “Companies report that their key priorities for 2021 included a focus on API security and governance (50%), growth and management of API adoption (41%), investment in building a developer community (38%), generating revenue by monetizing APIs (31%), making more services and data publicly available (31%), and growing their investment in API operations and monitoring (20%)”
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