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What is an API in reality?
Main Post:
I understand the definition that an API is an interface, that allows to connect to another program. There is plenty of videos for that. But that is apparently not how this term is used in the real world. I often see "use XY API" without saying what this API is actually the interface to.
For example Web Audio API.
" This specification describes a high-level JavaScript API for processing and synthesizing audio in web applications. "
30 paragraphs into the documentation, and i still dont know what program im connecting to when i use the API. What am i overseeing?
Top Comment: You don’t need to know what program you are connecting to, that’s the point of an API. It might be a guy in China typing in a keyboard for all you know. An API is just a contract. You give me this, I’ll give you that, you don’t need to know the details of how I got it.
[OC] Two Year Retrospective: Did the Reddit API Controversy Lead to People Quitting Reddit?
Main Post: [OC] Two Year Retrospective: Did the Reddit API Controversy Lead to People Quitting Reddit?
Top Comment: Honestly that's a larger ratio that stuck to their guns than I'd have expected. I would have guessed 90% who were vocal about it would have been back within a month. That said, the only metric that really matters in a macro sense is whether the total number of reddit users has grown, and whether that growth rate was affected by the protest actions. Interesting stuff!
Eli5 What is API?
Main Post:
What is exactly API and why we call it like that? I am learning web development, and always come across APIs. I would love to learn it through an analogy.
Top Comment: An API is like the menu in a restaurant. You pick something off the menu and you get it sent to you. You don't know what happens in the kitchen, but it gives you the options and sends you what you pick. And API is the same thing. It tells you how you can interact with a server/ system/ whatever and then sends you the info you pick off the menu (the API ). You don't know what happens under the hood on their side to get the info, but you pick what you want (endpoint, parameters, etc.) and it sends it to you
What is an API really? Need deeper explanation.
Main Post:
I've read all the textbook descriptions of what an API is. But I've never "seen" one so to speak. I learn better by seeing and doing. What are some tools used to configure and view APIs? Is there a protocol most use or is all over the place?
Update: thank you all for these very helpful and thorough responses. It's going to help me a lot.
Top Comment: Think of an API as a coffee shop order. You don't make the coffee yourself, you go to the shop and you place an order for the baristas to make you a drink. So you go to "coffee making application" and you "place an order" that says "{'make': 'mocha', 'quantity': 1} and within the transaction, you give them your money (or authorization token/JWT in web transactions). And if the money is enough (Auth token is valid), then the barista within the application makes you your drink and gives it back to you