Introduction

APIs are gaining popularity these days due to their numerous benefits. API stands for Application Programming Interface. 

An API is a set of programming codes that enables data transmission between two applications. It allows a programmer to write code for one piece of software that can carry out certain desired actions without writing the entire application from scratch.

Benefits of implementing APIs

Let’s look at the benefits of implementing APIs. 

1. Enhanced security

Yes, security is one of the main concerns of the modern IT world due to data breaches and system reliability. APIs allow fine-grained access control. We can define what data and functionalities each application can have access to, which will minimize the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information. E.g., bank API’s.

APIs can be encrypted using secure protocols like https, which makes them unreadable by others.

2. Improved performance

This is one of the major reasons for implementing APIs in modern IT architecture. APIs work based on requests. A client can make certain requests to API endpoints, and data can be collected in a matter of milliseconds. It is very fast data communication.

3. Better scope for automation

Implementing APIs can help you do end-to-end automations. 

For example, if your application has dependencies on third-party storage like S3, It can be done via API calls.

4. Minimizing human errors

The old techniques of copying and pasting can be eliminated by using APIs. The data flow between client and server will always be accurate.

5. Monitoring and logging

We can set up API monitoring tools and literally monitor every API call to the server, and thus we can monitor the API calls. Eg, Dozzle.

API allows you to identify suspicious activity on the server, perform security analysis, and manage incidents to a greater extent.

6. Increases customer and third party collaboration

We can enable more customers to communicate with our application server if we have an API in place. We can give them API endpoints so that customers can utilize them in terms of importing and data retrieval options.

We will be able to leverage the integrations with AI and other applications easily with the API.

Types of APIs

There are different types of APIs, and they have various purposes and benefits, which makes each of them apt for different scenarios. Let’s look at them. 

Public APIs: These are open to all with a certain auth key and secret key. 

Private APIs: These types are closed for internal use.

Partners APIs:  These APIs are given by third-party companies that allow external developers to access their services.

API protocols

REST APIs:  It is called Representational State Transfer and is a web service API. REST APIs are widely used in modern web applications, including Netflix and Uber. 

SOAP APIs: The simple object access protocol is a well-established protocol similar to REST and is a type of Web API.

Applications of APIs with real examples

1. Login setup

We know Google and LinkedIn need to have users login to their accounts. It works mainly on APIs. The login details are stored on the server, and every time a user tries to login, the hit will be on APIs.  

2. Payment gateway

All e-commerce websites and other websites have payment gateways integrated these days. All these are based on APIs. There will be API calls from the website to a third-party gateway vendor to fulfill the operation.

3. Gaming apps

A gaming application has numerous services combined together, and this can be achieved by using multiple APIs together. All modern gaming applications do make use of APIs.

Conclusion

APIs are inevitable in modern IT application development. It is simply a collection of actions. There are different types of API protocols used for different scenarios.