Friday , February 7 2025

What Is API? Define Web API And Apply To Website Design

Learn API And The Use Of Web API

what-is-API-and-Web-API

API is the right hand indispensable for website programming and the design of mobile application software. It works to link web and app features to databases; Maximum interaction between users and applications. Besides, this tool has a lot of other interesting things, let’s explore API in today’s article!

What Is API?

The API is the Application Programming Interface. This is a means for two or more applications to exchange and interact with each other, creating user-to-application interaction with the application more efficiently and conveniently.

With the API, developers can access and retrieve data from the server that shows them on their software application or website.

You can imagine that: Suppose you are writing software for Windows 10. And you want your software to be able to easily interact with Windows features or services.

Such as changing the wallpaper, roller control, user interface operations, or even more advanced features/applications. All of this is possible through the free Windows API for Windows.

Up to now, the API has evolved with various types of applications and software. The latest generation of web/app API is applicable to all systems from databases, operating systems, web platforms, libraries or even computer hardware.

API Development Trends

API currently has 2 basic protection policies including:

Companies Protect Their Own APIs

Companies will usually advocate for API protection and make a profit from registered third-party software developers, asking their permission. They are often companies that manufacture equipment, games, and technology, such as Sony and PlayStation systems.

Companies Specializing In Providing Free APIs

They are companies that specialize in providing free API products. Users can freely use this API to write on 3rd party software.

However, users still need to buy additional software to use. This is also the source of the benefits of free API providers, and at the same time can bring about more effective spread and marketing.

Typically is the ecosystem of Microsoft, Google, or Apple. They mostly provide free APIs, in exchange for programmers who write operating system software, users must buy from Windows, and Google to be able to use that software.

In particular, Google’s API is an application in the ecosystem that makes them increasingly popular and easier to reach people around the world.

Currently, the trend of users is mainly in the second category. This makes free APIs more and more popular, operate, and available everywhere on the internet and in life.

The popularity of this tool is increasing as they improve the standards of friendliness, simplicity, and ease of use.

Not only that, the security standards have been upgraded to help reduce risks or exploit security holes better. All API activities are monitored, so their performance is improved.

With the development of mobile devices and accompanying applications, the API is now also upgraded to better adapt to mobile devices. In fact, most web and mobile applications take advantage of more API, creating tremendous growth momentum for API.

The Programmableweb site also evaluated that one of the largest free API stores in the world today has more than 21,000 APIs divided into 450 different categories, covering all areas of human life.

As can be seen, API has become an important tool to help fire operating systems better, becoming a special key to the intelligence, synchronization, and automation of humans.

REST/RESTFul API In Website Design

Web API is the latest, most advanced, and breakthrough technology today. It still adheres to the standards of a common API, accompanied by new advantages that surpass the old technology.

What Are REST And RESTful API?

REST, abbreviated by Representational State Transfer, is a pattern structure that rules applications that interact with each other.

It consists of three basic parts: external server, API server, and client-server. In it, the client can be anything, web-based applications, libraries, or even different software of computer software.

REST allows clients to access the API server and execute commands to retrieve, modify or delete data from the external server. Programmers can freely access and edit data from the server without knowing how the system works.

The main REST protocol used is HTTP, a protocol common to most web applications or services today. It provides fast performance in the context of a robust transmission line and makes REST architecture faster.

In addition, REST also has the advantage of using a stateless protocol. This system does not use sessions, and cookies, and does not need to know the information in each request to the external server. This helps REST reduce the load on the external server, improving performance.

REST was originally designed to be used for web services. However, any software can use REST as a bridge to communicate with other applications better and more efficiently.

This is also the reason that makes REST the default standard for most protocols. And the API is designed according to the REST structure called RESTful API.

4 Basic CRUD Commands

CRUB includes: Create, Read, Update, Delete. These are the 4 basic functions of any database. REST and RESTful are no exception. These architectures fully support 4 commands, making it easier to manipulate data from the server.

In REST, 4 commands have a slightly different names:

  • Post: There is a function to create new data and information
  • Get: The command reads/retrieves a new data, information
  • Put: Update existing information and data
  • Delete: Delete existing information and data

In particular, “Get” is considered the most secure and popular command, allowed by most of the current Restful API.

The remaining 3 commands more or less follow the original server data, potentially leading to unintended accidents. Therefore, only those API are designed specifically or authorized by the partner API, Admin can execute those commands.

What Is The Web API?

Web API or ASP.NET Web API is a framework used to build and program HTTP web services. It takes the form of a modern RESTful API, meeting the requirements of REST as well as the same standards, optimized for online services as well as web applications today.

Web API possesses outstanding features that an old API has many great new advantages, which helps it gain much trust from website developers and programmers.

Some advantages of Web API include:

  • Easier to write and fine-tune than previous WCF and Web service frameworks
  • Enhance the user experience thanks to friendly UX
  • Meet common standards for REST and HTTP
  • Good support for HTTP features and components such as caching, versioning, HttpRequestMessage, HttpResponseMessage… MVCs such as routing, containers, controllers…
  • High security, 2-way confirmation when requested
  • Data returned in various popular formats from XML to JSON
  • Host different types of clients from web applications to desktop software…

Web API in programming, website design

From the above analysis, it can be seen that Web API provides features, and improves website performance extremely well.

Instead of using static pages with rigid content, modern websites can now use the Web API to provide flexible content with greater personalization.

Some Web API applications in the field of prominent website design and programming are:

Search function

The search engine is a basic part of web pages. But if you use the normal search function, users may difficult to find the desired information when the amount of content is too complex, bulky, or searching for particular content.

For example: if the cooking website will be often searched for recipes, nutritional information, etc. Not only that, when necessary, they will search for low-fat dishes, for children or pregnant women. Ingredients can cause allergies, time enough for cooking… A lot of things are interested in looking for.

At that time, the website requires a strong, popular API to use the search engine to help users find the most accurate information. This not only enhances the user experience but also contributes to bringing a more positive view from the user.

Ability to integrate social network channels

Social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook… are becoming big markets, attracting and possessing a large number of users worldwide. Most modern websites integrate with social networking platforms.

We can easily see this when scrolling to the bottom of the page, on the sidebar of the website, or under each article.

Some websites also use the comment box, like button, follow or share Fanpage for posts or discussions under the article. Viewers can use their own social network accounts to log in and interact. Very convenient and fast.

To do that, website developers and designers need to use the social networking platform’s API to embed these social networking functions into their websites.

Through API, websites and social networks can exchange data back and forth more easily.

Users also do not need to exit the website, but they can still interact with both social networking applications in a normal and comfortable way.

Building an online sales website

Not only improving the user experience, but API is also an important tool to support the work of developers. Especially in the construction of a website infrastructure system, designing sales websites on the Shopify platform (the fully functional online sales platform of e-commerce websites).

Just use Shopify’s API, attach to buttons, and website components, your website will have the typical functions that an e-commerce web needs. This shortens the construction process but still ensures all the features necessary for an online sales website.

Summary

Hopefully, the detailed analysis above can help you understand API. The values ​​and applications of API or Web API in website design and life.

From isolated protocols, API act as a bridge to connect them, enabling users to interactively keep applications and websites, and improve and expand operations on any device and hardware whether online or offline.

API helps to reduce the load of most jobs, improve the accuracy in the process of designing online sales websites and other types of websites, creating a professional, faster, and more convenient for developers.

All of these advantages make the API and Web API become universal keys, improving the life of convenience, intelligence, and modernity.

Thank you for reading!

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