API is the acronym which stands for Application Programming Interface.
It allows information to be sent from one application to another through a web connection.
For example, anytime you use your mobile phone to view your instagram account, it has to first connect to the internet.
To establish that internet connection, some data has to be sent to a server.
The server then retrieves that data, interprets it, performs the necessary actions and sends it back to your phone.
The application then interprets that received data and presents the information to you in a readable format.
All these connections and data conversions are done in a fraction of a second with the help of API’s.
Who builds the API’s ?
Custom API’s are built by developers who have the programming skills that are required to design these data connectors.
These custom API’s are usually wrappers around a SOAP API’s or REST API’s which allows other applications to communicate with those SOAP API or REST API’s.
What are SOAP or REST API’s ?
SOAP which stands for Simple Object Access Protocol is an API protocol that uses an XML data format to declare its request and response messages.
While REST or RESTful API which stands for REpresentational State Transfer, uses the REST architectural style to communicate with RESTful web services which is not limited to an xml format.
So Developers use these SOAP and REST API’s to design custom data connectors but there are also standard API connectors available via subscription which you can make use of.
Examples of some of these standard connectors include those that are available in Microsoft PowerApps, Power Automate and Azure Logic Apps.
Are API’s a secure way of transferring data between applications ?
A properly designed API has security protocols in place that prevents your data from being fully exposed to the server.
Some of those security protocols include Web Services Security, transport layer security encryption and JavaScript Object Notation ( JSON).