DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
  1. DZone
  2. Data Engineering
  3. Databases
  4. API 101: How APIs Are Improving Business

API 101: How APIs Are Improving Business

Just as the Internet had a revolutionary impact on our day-to-day culture starting back in the mid-1990’s, APIs are fueling every single piece of software that we use in our modern digital lives.

Mark Geene user avatar by
Mark Geene
·
Jun. 20, 16 · Tutorial
Like (3)
Save
Tweet
Share
3.87K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

just as the internet had a revolutionary impact on our day-to-day culture starting back in the mid-1990’s, apis are fueling every single piece of software that we use in our modern digital lives.

apis fuel the software that's eating the world if you’re using mobile apps, surfing internet browsers, exchanging data on the cloud, or using cloud-based office programs, you’re consuming apis. apis, also known as application programming interfaces, help us move data, power transactions, connect mobile and thousands of other normal, daily functions. tasks that an api take on are so common, in fact, that we often overlook just how much we consume apis on a regular basis. { photo credit }

so what exactly is an api? how would you explain an api over coffee to, let’s say great aunt marjorie who is still stuck on trying to make the switch from flip phone to smartphone? think of an api like a lego. snapping legos together is a perfect analogy for where cloud application development is headed. just like iaas (infrastructure as a service) has abstracted the infrastructure world into a single button push and paas (platform as a service) abstracted the operating systems and database software support world into a simple and portable platform, saas (software as a service) provides a world of building blocks (or bricks) from which applications can snap together like legos, via apis.

kin lane, the api evangelist, explains his take on api 101 : “apis are not just for developers. if you can use a web page, you can use most apis. there are a great deal of educational materials, to get you up to speed with apis. api providers are also working to make it a priority to focus on non-developer users, such as data journalists, analysts, and many other non-programming user types.”

the printer example

how apis are improving business one interesting use case is how printers are using (or going to be using) apis. before apis, if we had a document that needed to be printed, scanned or faxed, there was a manual effort to plug into the printer, select your document, print and walk over to fetch it.

now with apis, you can use the printer’s interface to connect to a cloud document storage service, like dropbox or evernote, select the job you’d like for the printer to execute, scan & send or download & print.

so easy, even great aunt marjorie can use apis. download and share our latest infographic: “ how apis are improving business ”.

get the infographic

API

Published at DZone with permission of Mark Geene, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • The Role of Data Governance in Data Strategy: Part II
  • Enabling DB Migrations Using Kubernetes Init
  • How and Why You Should Start Automating DevOps
  • Writing a Modern HTTP(S) Tunnel in Rust

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: