Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow applications to talk to other applications, but that is just one small aspect of their true power. Websites, Mobile Apps, Buttons, Badges, Widgets, Spreadsheets and Devices are all benefiting from the power of APIs. API driven interactions allow you as an user to generate your own content, acquire API access to valuable data and pull content from API resources and various databases.
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.
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.
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.
Sources:
https://sanjaysaha.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/api/
