API keysOne way to authenticate REST APIs is with API keys. When a client connects to a server for the first time, it is given a unique identifier. This unique API key is then utilized for authentication on every subsequent request to retrieve resources. It’s important to note that API ...
Let’s take the example of JDBC API. It is the API that lets you access your project’s database and fetch data using various legit queries. It has 2 packages, namely - java.sql and javax.sql. To use the classes in these packages in your code, you must first import these in the ...
With the right tools, creating basic APIs is reasonably straightforward. Creating good APIs that are also secure and easy for anyone to use correctly isn’t difficult but requires an understanding of a range of subjects including application security, data design,API management, and technical documen...
API integration APIs are also a key tool for application integration. Application integration is a means of enabling applications and systems from different vendors to involve each other in their workflows, so that, for example, you can enter data in one application and have it automatically availa...
Your API design directly reflects the underlying data storage, for example, so if the internal data structures change, the API is impacted, which may disrupt the API client. Other mistakes to avoid include: Poor documentation. Clear, detailed documentation is essential to the success of your API...
The API server sends a response back to the client, which may include data, an error message, or a status code indicating the result of the operation. The client receives the response and processes it. Let’s go deeper with a real-world example. Imagine you’re building an app that disp...
A complete API integration ties together an organization’s SaaS applications for a variety of use cases in virtually any department. For example, when a company’s ecommerce platform is integrated with its accounting and invoicing service, information from an online purchase is automatically transferr...
Examples of API calls Circling back to the example above, the submission of a user’s log-in credentials via an app prompts an API call for the server to provide access. Once the server validates that the correct username and password have been provided, the user is granted access to the...
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and specifications used to communicate between two applications. In simple terms, an API allows one program to interact with another program. For example, you can create an app that lets users send messages to each other through Face...
There are several approaches to API versioning, including: URL versioning: With this approach, the version number is included in the URL of the API endpoint. For instance, consumers who are interested in viewing all of the products in a database would send a request to the https://example-...