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Understanding APIs Guide

This document provides a comprehensive guide to APIs, explaining their importance, types, architectures, components, and security measures. It highlights the necessity of good documentation and tools for working with APIs, along with practical use cases. Key API types include Open, Internal, Partner, and Composite APIs, while common architectures are REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC.

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Karim Abd Al-Rahim
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5 views3 pages

Understanding APIs Guide

This document provides a comprehensive guide to APIs, explaining their importance, types, architectures, components, and security measures. It highlights the necessity of good documentation and tools for working with APIs, along with practical use cases. Key API types include Open, Internal, Partner, and Composite APIs, while common architectures are REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC.

Uploaded by

Karim Abd Al-Rahim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Understanding APIs - A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and definitions that allows software programs to

communicate with each other. Think of it like a waiter in a restaurant - it takes your request, delivers it to the

kitchen (server), and brings back the response (your food).

2. Why APIs Are Important

APIs allow different systems to work together. They enable:

- Interoperability between applications

- Automation of tasks

- Easier integration of new features

3. Types of APIs

- Open APIs: Publicly available to developers

- Internal APIs: Used within a company

- Partner APIs: Shared with business partners

- Composite APIs: Combine multiple APIs into one call

4. Common API Architectures

- REST: Based on HTTP and URLs

- SOAP: Protocol-based with XML

- GraphQL: Client can request exactly the data it needs

- gRPC: High-performance RPC framework

5. Components of an API

- Endpoint: URL to access a resource

- Request: Sent by the client

- Response: Returned by the server

- Headers: Metadata (e.g., Content-Type)


Understanding APIs - A Comprehensive Guide

- Authentication: Security like API Keys, OAuth

6. API Documentation

Good documentation is crucial. Common formats include:

- OpenAPI/Swagger: Describes API structure

- Postman Collections: Help test and share APIs easily

7. Example of REST API Request

GET https://api.example.com/users/123

Headers:

Authorization: Bearer <token>

Response:

"id": 123,

"name": "Karim"

8. Security in APIs

- Use HTTPS

- Apply rate limiting

- Secure endpoints using OAuth, JWT or API keys

9. Tools to Work with APIs

- Postman: GUI for testing APIs

- Curl: Command-line tool

- Swagger UI: Interactive documentation


Understanding APIs - A Comprehensive Guide

10. Use Cases of APIs

- Weather apps

- Online payment systems

- Social media login integrations

- Industrial IoT and telemetry systems

11. References & Further Reading

- MDN: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/JavaScript/Client-side_web_APIs/Introduction

- Postman: https://learning.postman.com/

- Swagger: https://swagger.io/docs/

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