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An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. [1] A document or standard that describes how to build such a connection or interface is called an API specification.
An example of a popular web API is the Astronomy Picture of the Day API operated by the American space agency NASA. It is a server-side API used to retrieve photographs of space or other images of interest to astronomers, and metadata about the images. According to the API documentation, [15] the API has one endpoint:
API management is the process of creating and publishing web application programming interfaces (APIs), enforcing their usage policies, controlling access, nurturing the subscriber community, collecting and analyzing usage statistics, and reporting on performance. API Management components provide mechanisms and tools to support developer and ...
An open API (often referred to as a public API) is a publicly available application programming interface that provides developers with programmatic access to a (possibly proprietary) software application or web service. [1] Open APIs are APIs that are published on the internet and are free to access by consumers. [2]
API key; API management; API writer; App.net; AppKit; Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging; Application binary interface; Application Interface Specification; Application Programming Interface for Windows; ARKit; ASCOM (standard) Asynchronous module definition; Audiere; Audio Stream Input/Output; Template:Authentication
Also simply application or app. Computer software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user. Common examples of applications include word processors, spreadsheets, accounting applications, web browsers, media players, aeronautical flight simulators, console games, and photo editors. This contrasts with system software, which is ...
API description languages are sometimes called interface description languages (IDLs). The structured description might be used to generate documentation for human programmers ; such documentation may be easier to read than free-form documentation, since all documentation generated by the same tool follows the same formatting conventions.
The APIs provide functionality like analytics, machine learning as a service (the Prediction API) or access to user data (when permission to read the data is given). Another important example is an embedded Google map on a website, which can be achieved using the Static Maps API, [ 1 ] Places API [ 2 ] or Google Earth API.