API Fundamentals
/Beginner
Web APIs
Definition
A specific type of API that can be accessed over the internet using the HTTP protocol.
Explain Like I'm New
When most people say 'API', they actually mean 'Web API'. It is an interface that lives on a server somewhere in the world. You talk to it by sending web requests (just like typing a URL in Chrome), and it talks back by sending raw data (usually JSON) instead of HTML webpages.
Real World Example
The Spotify Web API. You send an HTTP request over the internet to `api.spotify.com/v1/tracks/123`, and Spotify's servers send back a JSON text file containing the song name, artist, and album cover URL.
Common Use Cases
- •Fetching remote data
- •Mobile app backends
- •Cloud services
Interactive Example
Interview Questions
basic
- What protocol do almost all Web APIs use to communicate over the internet?
intermediate
- If a Web API does not return HTML, what data format does it usually return?