Floreth's Blog 2016-10-28 19:06:00

API 101

Application program interface (API) is a set of routinesprotocols, and tools for building software applications. An API specifies how software components should interact and APIs are used when programming graphical user interface (GUI) components. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together" (webopedia, 2016).




Application Programming Interfaces allows applications to talk to other applications. For example:
  1.  Mobile devices all use APIs to connect our mobile app to Facebook.
  2. YouTube users consume videos using the universal embeddable video player (like Vimeo) allowing Youtube videos to be embedded on any website around the web, all driven by APIs.
Sources & Links:

Floreth's Blog 2016-10-28 19:06:00

API 101

Application program interface (API) is a set of routinesprotocols, and tools for building software applications. An API specifies how software components should interact and APIs are used when programming graphical user interface (GUI) components. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together" (webopedia, 2016).




Application Programming Interfaces allows applications to talk to other applications. For example:
  1.  Mobile devices all use APIs to connect our mobile app to Facebook.
  2. YouTube users consume videos using the universal embeddable video player (like Vimeo) allowing Youtube videos to be embedded on any website around the web, all driven by APIs.
Sources & Links:

APIs, the new way of life.

APIs or Application Programming Interfaces are the core of our daily lives. We use these interfaces every day for most of the things we do, but… what are they?

APIs basically allow applications to communicate with other applications.

Every time we visit a website or application we leave a digital footprint on them that helps them evolve based on our experience. With the innovation of all digital things, websitesd and applications have evolved to being generated through development software and software as a service platforms.

Data Bases have allowed websites to become applications and have encouraged people to create their own content instead of just viewing it. Site content is now stored on many different databases, some you may own and some you may not and some may be public sources and some may be private.

There are a vast variety of widgets that can be implemented in our phones, computers or other devices to make our lives easier, we rely on them for practically everything.

Soapi1

img11urces:
http://101.apievangelist.com/

About API´s

http://www.metatrader4.com/en/brokers/api
Original at: http://www.metatrader4.com/en/brokers/api

It´s time to talk about Application programming interfaces, that thing all of us young software developers has used at least one time and maybe without knowing what it is:

In Jeff Standen words:

You can consider an API as the alternative “user interface” that software uses to interact with other software.

We humans are familiar with user interfaces that have fancy layouts with buttons, fonts, colors, graphics, etc; and most of that is unnecessary to a machine.  Machines wouldn’t open up a program or website, take a screenshot of that section of the monitor, and then try to parse its meaning visually like a human would.

Machines just need a shorthand way to do things like checking the current weather or adding an event to your calendar.  That’s what an API provides.

APIs can be web-based, or specific to a platform.  Google has APIs for search, calendars, translations, etc.  Facebook and Twitter have APIs that allow software to automatically post status updates.  Apple provides many APIs for building iPhone apps.

https://www.quora.com/profile/Jeff-Standen

So, APIs gives us the option to make more “easy” the way we program and connect to other software. Let´s tink in an example:

Imagine a 70´s or earliest car, the one that needs to be “recharged” with a pulley to obtain enough power to be moved, you constantly needed to check for water, oil and conditions of the car and the only thing you were able to see were the velocity in a tiny indicator.

Let´s have a look at the other side of the coin. Nowadays, cars starts with a button, you don´t need other thing that see the screen in the car to know all the state of it (in modern ones), velocity, temperatures

https://sanjaysaha.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/api/
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/optimove-api-custom-audiences/433003
Continue reading "About API´s"

Thank you, APIs

api-connect-fabernovel1
https://nbry.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/api-connect-fabernovel1.png

If you like social media, and use your mobile apps to make tasks easier and faster -actually, if you are reading this-, you should thank APIs.

I bet a lot of us read or heard about this term once and didn’t know what it means. Well, API refers to Application Programming Interface and its work is to allow applications talk to each other, and no, it’s not magic.

Isn’t it cool the fact that we can share posts from one web site to many others with just one button? Don’t you love the button “Log in with Facebook/Twitter/Google” in many applications? Aren’t you obsessed -just like me- with sharing everything on Facebook? Have you ever wondered how is it possible to connect your mobile apps to websites?

If you answered No to all these questions, then you’re weird. But otherwise, let me tell you that all those things are possible thanks to APIs!

main
http://www.cbronline.com/news/verticals/Others-inc/what-is-an-api-4928915

Web sites used to be just publishing things from a database, but now it’s possible to pull content from many databases and API resources. Also, users can iteract and generate content as well.

You might think that APIs are very recent, but they’re not. The function of an API, at first, was to connect one program to another. Then in 2007 the iPhone was released and there the power or APIs got 10000 times bigger and more important, because thanks to the iPhone, mobile apps became part of our lives.

This cool video will help you understand APIs more easily.

Source:


Application Programming Interfaces (API)

Natively, APIs are tools for other apps to communicate with each other. APIs started to grow since 2000. You might think that 16 years is a lot for technology growth. But APIs, natively, do the same stuff. The unique difference is that there are much more now, than 16 years ago. And obviously, they are much more complex, yet easier, to use. 

Some famous APIs are developed by huge companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter…etc Google is a really diverse company, and guess what, it has an API for every single product they offer (Ads, Google Maps, Google Drive, Search, YouTube, Google+, and much more).

 

You might think that only huge Silicon Valley companies have APIs, but NO. There are plenty of smaller companies that also have their APIs available to everyone in the world.

APIs are one of the most important things when a new startup emerges, APIs allow developers to build something cool that might be useful for the startup product.

For example, Phillips Hue has their API available for making third-party apps that might exploit all the possibilities that Hue has to offer. There are awesome things you can try just by using an API.

APIs work for web, mobile devices, and computer software. You can use Amazon on your site, tweet from your site, and much more things you can do with the use of APIs.

When you are thinking about something awesome, and start worrying about how to implement it, believe me, there is an API for that.

With APIs, possibilities are limitless.

 

Easter Egg: Check out this amazing API for IBM’s Watson.