What Are APIs?
APIs are the most powerful technology available today. While the API acronym can be deceitfully simple, the concept it describes offers infinite possibilities. Welcome to the world of APIs, where you’ll learn how to build an API product. Your first step in this expedition is to first learn what an API is. In this chapter, you will understand the nature of APIs, looking back to their origins. You’ll also get to know which technologies and tools are available for you to use.
The chapter begins by exploring different types of networks, such as the internet, and how APIs work on them. You will then be guided through the history of APIs. You’ll see how APIs came to life and understand how certain concepts in use today were born. Finally, you’ll see that there are different technologies and tools that you can use to build an API product from scratch.
By the end of this chapter, you will know that APIs can exist on different types of networks. You will understand what those networks are and what the most appropriate one for your API product is. You will also know that there are synchronous and asynchronous APIs and what those terms mean. Most importantly, you will know how to pick the right type of API and tools to build your API.
In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:
- The different types of APIs
- The history of APIs
- Available technologies and protocols