What is an API?
When is an API used in Business?
Why use an api and challenges of developing and integrating apis and the future of APIs?
An API or application programming interface is software intermediary that allows two unrelated applications to talk to each other it acts as a breeze taking a request or message from one program and then delivering it to another translating the messages and performing protocols based on what the API is programmed to do apis are present in almost every aspect of our digital lives the hidden backbone to our modern world of plugins digital interfacing and software communication they connect everything together and make software systems work in harmony apis are mostly invisible to the business user but open up a wide range of possibilities for software programs they work by opening up a small part of the software's functionality and data in a controlled way this allows developers to access that program piece of hardware data or app without needing access to the code for the entire system apis use a range of routines tools and protocols to specify how different software components should act together there are two types of apis private and public the public ones work with consumer facing applications and give businesses opportunities to connect with their customers using a private or using a variety of apps mobile devices and browsers private apis work in the back end streamlining up operations and creating tools so customer staff and other stakeholders can be served better.
So Next,
When is an API used in a Business?
APIs can be used at any point in the software development scenario such as when two different systems need to access each other or when an external piece of software needs to be joined to an existing system apis are a vital tool for all organizations that use any mix of modern software for example a company website will use an api to link between an embedded google map on the about a space and google maps itself a company embeds google maps on its website to help readers find the nearest branch locations this is accomplished by the company consuming google's public apis the api on the company side is essentially calling the api on google maps to provide them with the information and functionality and of course this is good for both sides of the interaction the company website enhanced their functionality while google maps can monetize this type of data sharing through a fee or brand the map to enhance their marketing efforts any transactional or service based business uses apis to derive marketing benefit from multiple interfaces there are also a range of commonly used apps that you can connect to via APIs like Uber help Google maps and Dropbox the list of apps and programs accessible via api are endless another common example is
APIs allowing customers to sign into website via their facebook or google login additionally every time you share an article online you'll check an icon that allows you to share a link via that medium like Twitter Gmail or Facebook all these services are enabled by APIs in a larger sense APIs have enabled some businesses to grow and expand instead of a business developing their own software for payment communication data integration or any number of like other actions an API means external third-party software works perfectly within their internal systems in a macro example the white house has released thousands of apis that give the public access to information about the government from finances to health care to agriculture the public can find polling stations information about food safety or other beneficial information bring up valuable time.
Why use an api apis allows an organization to extend their own software and data usage to applications and data that they don't own this allows a range of benefits such as increased functionality cost savings tech innovations and streamlined operations increased functionality for customers business can offer customers an enhanced customer experience because they have access to whole new data sets and functions for instance when you embed a google map into your website you saved the user from having to click on yet another website or application saving them time increasing the likelihood that they will be a repeat customer save money rather than hiring expensive developers to create custom software companies can save seamless integrations across apps and programs together using apis companies can leverage existing software rather than developing their own saving money and on r d save time there are no delays in software development as the api is generally already written and just needs integration with each end communicate better as new software is added to our business apis integrate everything together so the flow of information is seamless linked seamlessly almost any smart application or appliance is now linked to the internet from trees to printers modern technology is now a wave of items apis allow these smart devices to connect for ease of printing or even ordering a coffee from your desk extend marketing reach apis from Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest and other social media platforms allow for the easy sharing of blogs information or offers at the click of a button encourage innovation with the security and functionality that apis provide developers are only limited by their imagination streamlining operations
For instance if a business is developing a travel app an API allows a customer to go from the plane to a rideshare to the hotel without having to leave the interface or login elsewhere with apis business can link booking payment and fulfillment components together innovate faster faster innovation with less barriers to change ready-made apis mean less developer time and fast reasons developers can adapt to a new software or program quickly and easily many apis are free with companies or developers giving the software away at no cost this is generally because using their program extends the reach of the software and their push to market creating more users for them so what are the challenges of developing and integrating apis aging or fragmented computer systems organizations change and grow as they do so they can become large and fragmented developing a mixture of new products and services systems grow in organic of an uncontrolled way resulting in a complex mix of software systems technologies apps and processes added on an add-on basis these systems become inefficient over the time with some software and hardware systems becoming obsolete as they is this often means an organization is not able to easily incorporate its old technology with new software their systems become either unusable or isolated this creates brittle complicated systems that are prone to failure modern apis are generally the answer to the problem most of the time even if the api is doesn't have an automatic connector built for an application developers can build one so they can connect with their legacy systems another issue with legacy system is that a software edges and is no longer supported which presents a security risk again you can compensate and protect those systems with api functionality like token-based authentication and authorization next uh point will be like lack of api strategy and planning another challenge is that often times users dive into using apis without a plan like any strategic initiative apis will only be as successful as the plan behind them you need to plan for the entire life cycle from creation to development to testing to deployment monitoring and retirement of apis of course if you are just using one or two apis this is not a problem but often most companies will use dozens hundreds if not thousands of apis in their internal and external systems multiply that by all the various stages that are and that you have to manage for one single api and you can quickly see the logistic nightmare it creates users should start with a compressive plan for each api much like you should like you draw for plan for a business to get the most out of the program users should also look for a single platform that can support the full life cycle of an api which can be crucial to the success of any any api program the best packaged and marketed apis which really can only be accomplished with the full lifecycle api platform are the ones that are most successful the future of api these small software intermediaries enable huge transformational potential for any company like large or small the ability of programmers to connect different applications and systems to form a cohesive stable software solution is almost limitless using components to create software rather than building from scratch means expensive and time consuming specialized software developments may be a thing of the past the future of apis is in artificial intelligence and machine learning ai is developing autonomous software that exposes its interface and registers itself with an api database where it finds a relevant API and installs it without any human interference APIs encourage innovation and freedom standard behaviours are still being established but overall apis are an excellent software intermediary that fosters innovation for businesses APIs will carry a bigger role moving forward and app developers create programs designed to work together with a range of other software automated apis may not be far away making systems work that much faster and easier together so in this lesson we learned about what is an api when is an api used in business why use an API challenges of developing and integrating apis and the future of APIs.
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