Application Programming Interface (API)

Simple Definition for Beginners:

An API is a set of rules that allows different software applications to communicate and share data with each other.

Common Use Example:

A weather app on your phone uses an API to get weather data from a weather service and display it to you.

Technical Definition for Professionals:

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software and applications. It defines methods of communication between various software components. APIs specify how software components should interact and are used to enable the integration of different systems and services. They can provide data access and functionality to other software applications through web-based protocols such as HTTP/HTTPS, and can return data in formats like JSON or XML. APIs are essential for enabling interoperability and functionality across different platforms and services, such as RESTful APIs for web services, SOAP for older web services, and GraphQL for flexible querying.