We’ve skimmed the surface of what APIs can do for your business and highlighted the opportunities to better utilize APIs. If you want to become an API provider, you’ll likely build an API gateway along with your API. As the name implies, an API gateway serves as a single point of entry for specific “clients,” or apps that want to access your API.
After all, this is something they’ve spent a lot of time and money developing, maintaining, and improving. APIs help power much of our digital lives and make many online products and services possible. To the browser, also known as the client, Facebook’s server is an API. This means that every time you visit a page on the Web, you interact with some remote server’s API.
Connecting IoT devices
The difference between an API and a web application is that API allows two-way communication and web applications are just a way for users to interact through a web browser. Additionally, today, APIs are treated more like products than code. Also, APIs mean that users of your program don’t need to leave your program to use someone else’s program.
For this reason, REST APIs are sometimes referred to RESTful APIs. API endpoints are the points where the client and server communicate, and where the API receives resource requests. They are typically a URL exposed by the server that enables other systems to connect to the endpoints.
Types of API
REST is a set of architectural constraints, not a protocol or a standard. AWS AppSync offers fully managed GraphQL API setup, administration, and maintenance, with high-availability serverless infrastructure built-in. You pay only for what you use with no minimum fees or mandatory service usage. New web APIs can be found on API marketplaces and API directories. API marketplaces are open platforms where anyone can list an API for sale.
The Public API Network, which supports a community of over 25 million developers, is a searchable, highly organized library of APIs that makes it easy to find the API that’s right for you. You can use the network’s search functionality if What is API you’re looking for something specific, or browse by category if you want to get inspired. Some companies that have published great examples of APIs on the Public API Network include Salesforce, Notion, Discord, Pinterest, and DoorDash.
