- The term API was first mentioned in the article “The Relational and Network Approaches: Comparison of the Application Programming Interface” published by Christopher J. Date in 1974.
- API, which stands for Application Programming Interface, is a software tool that allows 2 software to communicate with each other.
- APIs are used with protocols such as HTML, XML and JSON. HTML is used for web-based APIs, XML is used for SOAP APIs, and JSON is used for Rest APIs.
- Many data can be easily retrieved via APIs on the web or on smartphones, without the need to re-create an infrastructure. In this way, there is no need for a new program, communication is handled practically and quickly.
- The API also creates a firewall for users. Instead of sharing all your data with the application’s shared server, you only send a single request to the server via API, ensuring full security of your data. In this respect, the API also acts as a key.
The main ones are as follows:
- Applications: Access to APIs ensures more flexibility in information-transfer processes.
- Reach: APIs let you create layers in apps in order to distribute information to different audiences.
- Customization: Furthermore, it can serve as a solution to create different experiences for users, letting protocols, functions, and commands be adapted according to specific demands.
- Efficiency: When you have content that is automatically published and made available on different channels simultaneously, APIs allow for more efficient data distribution.
- Adaptability: One of the greatest benefits of APIs is the ability it has to adapt to changes through data migration and flexibility of services.
Since APIs enable communication between the client and the server, they are used for various purposes in most web and mobile applications. API usage areas are as follows.
.When allowed to sign in to apps that use social media credentials
.While retrieving your data from Facebook servers
.When contacting the bank while making payments in e-commerce transactions
.In weather apps
.In applications where instant stock market data is monitored
.Distributing software updates to applications
.Providing location data
APIs are classified according to their usage patterns and architectures.
API Types According to Purposes of Use
Internal API: It is a type of API that is used only by certain people and is hidden from external users. This type of API is defined for specific departments of the company and is hidden from third parties. It is mostly used for reuse and production.
Open API: APIs that are open to developers and everyone else. They are also known as publicly available or Public APIs. It is divided into two: paid and free.
Partner API: APIs that enable the systems of companies that conduct business with a certain business partnership to coordinate in their joint operations are called Partner APIs. They are not open to everyone. For example, communication between an e-commerce site and a cargo company is done using Partner API.
Composite API: Composite APIs are APIs that combine multiple data or service APIs, allowing developers to access several endpoints in a single call.
1-) RESTful APIs:
REST API, which is short for Representational State Transfer, is an API service that works using the HTTP protocol.
It uses certain functions like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE from HTTP requests. REST uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) as the data format instead of XML.
REST is a form of architectural pattern frequently used to create modern web-based applications. Being very useful, easy to maintain, easy to integrate and lightweight have made it one of the most preferred API types.
2-) SOAP APIs:
SOAP, which is the abbreviation of Simple Object Access Protocol, is an API architecture that enables data transfer with a tighter security structure.
In this architecture, communication is achieved using XML format. It is more difficult to configure than the Rest API. However, it has a strong security structure.
3-) GraphQL APIs:
GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data.
GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in your API, gives clients the power to ask for exactly what they need and nothing more, makes it easier to evolve APIs over time, and enables powerful developer tools.
Facebook originally developed GraphQL to simplify endpoint management for REST-based APIs. Instead of maintaining multiple endpoints with small amounts of disjointed data, GraphQL provides a single endpoint that inputs complex queries and outputs only as much information as is needed for the query.
GraphQL helps create flexible APIs and provides increased federation across distributed applications. When developers need to modify, add or remove individual application features, they can simply adjust and execute the fields that correspond to the query that feature is associated with.
Google API: These are the APIs that Google offers to retrieve data from its own applications and websites. They provide the opportunity to combine services provided by Google, such as Analytics, Adsense and Google search, with your own project. You can review the APIs offered by Google here.
Whatsapp API: It is an API service for adding a Whatsapp button to the website. With WhatsApp Business API, you can create a company profile, send messages and receive messages using the APIs with the integration you want. You can also create and use message templates as you wish.
Facebook API: It is an API for adding a Facebook button to the website and connecting with Facebook. Facebook Api Key is a key that allows developers to add like and send buttons to the website.
Youtube API: Youtube API allows accessing YouTube channel data. They are APIs that allow you to bring the YouTube experience to a web page, app or device.
Today, REST (Representational State Transfer) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) APIs stand out as two widely used protocols in software development processes. In this article, we will examine the main differences and usage areas of REST and SOAP.
Data Format:
REST: Uses lightweight data formats such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) or XML (eXtensible Markup Language). JSON is generally the preferred format and has a more readable, lightweight structure.
SOAP: It is an XML-based protocol. It generally uses XML for data transfer, which is a heavier data structure.
Protocol and Standards:
REST: Works on HTTP protocol. Standards are usually determined at the application level and REST has a stateless structure.
SOAP: It uses its own protocol and usually transfers data using other communication protocols such as HTTP, SMTP or TCP. Standards are generally set by organizations such as W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards).
Communication Model:
REST: It has a client-server based communication model and each request is stateless. This allows for easier scaling between applications.
SOAP: It is often used in business-to-business integrations and supports different communication models such as client-server, publish-subscribe or peer-to-peer.
REST:
. Ideal for web applications, especially single page applications (SPA).
. Its lightweight and simple design supports mobile application development.
.RESTful APIs typically use URLs that represent resources and interact with HTTP methods.
SOAP:
. It is widely used in large business-to-business systems and especially in industries such as finance, healthcare and telecommunications.
. It is suitable for complex transactions with security and integrity requirements.
. It defines how to use the API using WSDL (Web Services Description Language) and has a more rigid contractual structure.
- Both protocols offer advantages suitable for specific usage scenarios.
- While REST stands out with its lightweight structure and simple design, SOAP is more suitable for large-scale systems with complex operations and security requirements.
- The choice should be made based on the project’s characteristics, requirements and scaling needs.
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