An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of operations that enable programs to interface with external software components, operating systems, and microservices.
To put it another way, an API sends a user’s response to a system and then returns the system’s response to the user. You click “add to cart,” and an API notifies the website that you’ve added a product to your shopping. The website then adds the item to your cart, and your cart is updated.
Four Basic Methods
- GET – Information is gathered (Pulling all Coupon Codes)
- PUT – Makes changes to data (Updating Product pricing)
- POST – Produces (Creating a new Product Category)
- REMOVE – (Deleting a blog post)
Benefits of Using API
- Security – When websites employ APIs, their security is improved. You are not immediately connected to a server when you send a request. You transmit little quantities of data to the API, which is delivered to the server. This reduces the chances of a data breach or unauthorized access to a server’s backend.
- Flexibility and Scalability – When it comes to increasing your store’s inventory, security, or data demands, APIs provide scalability and flexibility. When you don’t have to factor in new code for every single product or customer, your store can grow at a faster rate.
- Speed – Without APIs, you’d have to call a retailer and ask them to look at all their suppliers’ inventory, which they’d eventually return to you. This, rather than having an API that allowed you to quickly see what a product was, its price, and its stock level.