Application Programming Interface (API)
An Application Programming Interface (API) is a computing system interface that can be used for building a software application.
- Context:
- It can be specified by an API Specification, which describes its functionalities, methods, and data formats.
- It can be tested via an API Testing Task, which may include a component test or even an integration test to ensure it works as expected.
- It can range from being a simple, single-purpose API to a complex, multipurpose API that provides a wide range of services.
- It can be a web-based system, operating system, or database system-specific API.
- It can be behind an API Gateway.
- …
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- a devkit/SDK.
- a User Interface.
- See: Software Subroutine, Software Component, Library (Computing), Software Framework.
References
2016
- (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface Retrieved:2016-4-29.
- In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software and applications.
An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types, defining functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising the interface. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks, which are then put together by the programmer.
An API may be for a web-based system, operating system, or database system, and it provides facilities to develop applications for that system using a given programming language. As an example, a programmer who develops apps for Android may use an Android API to interact with hardware, like the front camera of an Android-based device.
In addition to accessing databases or computer hardware like hard disk drives or video cards, an API can ease the work of programming GUI components. For example, an API can facilitate integration of new features into existing applications (a so-called "plug-in API"). An API can also assist otherwise distinct applications with sharing data, which can help to integrate and enhance the functionalities of the applications.
APIs often come in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. In other cases, notably SOAP and REST services, an API is simply a specification of remote calls exposed to the API consumers. An API specification can take many forms, including an International Standard, such as POSIX, vendor documentation, such as the Microsoft Windows API, or the libraries of a programming language, e.g. the Standard Template Library in C++ or the Java APIs. An API differs from an application binary interface (ABI) in that an API is source code-based while an ABI is a binary interface. For instance POSIX is an API, while the Linux Standard Base provides an ABI. APIs are one of the most common ways technology companies integrate with each other. Those that provide and use APIs are considered as being members of a business ecosystem.
- In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software and applications.