An APIs is an Application Program Interface that specifies how software components should interact. They enable the sharing of a ton of information and resources. APIs are used everywhere and in small companies and large corporations alike and they will only continue to become more and more popular. APIs are awesome because they allow for outsourcing certain features for your application. Thus, they are highly efficient; it is easier to program when you can pull all of these pieces together for your application rather than having to write out all of this code by yourself. Further, they allow for your program to be more flexible, automated, and scalable. APIs allow companies to do so much more than they could do on their own. They create partnerships and a closer relationship with clients. They allow for more inclusion and diversity – everyone can access APIs. They allow small companies to thrive like never before because small companies can create complex, dynamic, and quickly scaled applications via APIs.
There are many different types of APIS and they allow for a wide variety of tasks to be completed. Google Maps is one of the most popular APIs. For example, if someone were to make a web application for all of the best dog food stores in an area and they wanted to add in a map feature that would show all of those stores, then they would connect their application to the Google Maps API. They would be able to then access all of the features of Google Maps. Which is great and would make their application much more user friendly and useful! And they would not have to spend all of the time and resources building out this map functionality on their own. There are many APIs that you can connect to such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, and Amazon.
In order to consume an API you must sign a contract with the provider and promise to abide by their rules and regulations in using their API. Most APIs charge a fee, but some are free if you are not hitting their API often. APIs can be a target for hackers, but there are tools available to add layers of security to protect yourself and your data. APIs can offer so much and are a vital part of development now and will be into the future.
