API stands for an application programming interface, which is useful for pulling information from programs. It also is how computers communicate to each other. API provides you with data its programmers have made available to outside users.
When making APIs available to the public, programmers they “expose endpoints”. Exposing endpoints means the programmer publishes only a portion of the language they used to build their program.
Examples of exposed endpoints are:
API’s consist of three parts:
So, how do you use them?
The first thing you need before being able to access APIs is an API Key. This key is sort of like a login that you use to get into API’s. You can think of this key as a process that is very similar to logging into your Google or Yahoo account, for example.
Here are the different ways you can access API’s:
You can find an HTTP Client Online (easiest way to use an API) in which you can easily access API’s that have already been made and are ready to use using your API Key.
Or, build a URL from existing API documentation
Here are some websites to go to for API’s for different coding languages: