The kitchen is like a server that does the work of creating the order in the manner the customer wants it, hopefully! When the food is ready, the waiter picks up the order and delivers it to the customer. The waiter is like an API, receiving the customer’s order and translating the order into easy-to-follow instructions that the kitchen then uses to fulfill that order-often following a specific set of codes, or input, that the kitchen easily recognizes. In this metaphor, a customer is like a user, who tells the waiter what she wants. The kitchen does their work, creating the food, and then the waiter delivers the order back to the customer. The waiter takes down the order and communicates it to the kitchen. Sometimes the easiest way to think about APIs is to think about a metaphor, and a common scenario that a lot of folks use is that of the customer, a waiter, and a restaurant kitchen: A customer talks to the waiter and tells the waiter what she wants. How do APIs work?ĪPIs work by sharing data and information between applications, systems, and devices-making it possible for these things to talk with each other. Need more reasons? Keep reading about why you should care about APIs. APIs help organizations, schools, government agencies, and nonprofits strengthen relationships with other organizations, research institutes, and agencies.APIs help different departments, teams, and groups become more agile.APIs make it possible to integrate different systems together, like Customer Relationship Management systems, databases, or even school learning management systems.APIs help you access the data you need to get your work done and do daily tasks-whether you’re a business user, a student, or using an application just for fun.Why should you care about APIs?Ĭurious about why you should care about APIs? Here’s a very brief list: APIs even connect everyday things like automobiles, doorbells, dishwashers, and wearable devices.APIs define the networks-or the information passed between applications, systems, and devices.
Api postman code#
APIs are the integrations for no code solutions.APIs make mobile applications possible.What are APIs used for? Lots and lots and lots of things, including:
Api postman full#
To get the full scoop on the history of APIs, check out this Postman blog post. With a strong start in commercial and social applications, APIs continued to grow as everything moved to the cloud, became much more mobile, and provided the foundation for next-generation devices. In 2004, a shift in the API landscape began to emerge as a new breed of API providers started to pop up, offering ways to share information with local and global social networks, led by the likes of Facebook and Twitter. They took advantage of this new medium to make products and services available to customers via a single website, and as they worked with partners, they sought to automate much of the commerce that was powering the web and included juggernauts like Salesforce, eBay, and Amazon. Web APIs got their start by putting the “commercial” in “.com,” powering commerce startups looking to change the way we do business on the web. Keep reading for a history of APIs, what they’re used for, examples, and more.
Applications use APIs to send and receive data and content between each other. API integration is simply the connection between two (or more) applications, programs, services, or systems, using APIs. The whole reason APIs exist is to support integration. “API integration” is a pretty common Google Search term, and we have good news. But APIs don’t return all the details that are needed to make things look pretty for the human eye-you only get the raw data and other machine-readable information needed behind the scenes to put the resources being delivered to work, with very little assistance from a human. Websites and APIs both do the same things, like return data, content, images, video, and other information. In an internet-connected world, web and mobile applications are designed for humans to use, while APIs are designed for other digital systems and applications to use.
Api postman software#
APIs are the little pieces of code that make it possible for digital devices, software applications, and data servers to talk with each other, and they’re the essential backbone of so many services we now rely on.ĭigging deeper, an easy way to understand the definition of an API is to think about the applications that you use every day. If you want to learn about APIs, you’ve come to the right place! API stands for application programming interface.
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