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APIs are essential for modern software development as they enable different applications to communicate with each other. They provide standardized methods for data transfer, authentication, and interaction. APIs are implemented in many technologies, including web services, mobile applications, and more.
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An application programming interface defines how software offers functions or data to other programs through a clearly described boundary.
Modular programming interfaces are documented from the 1960s onward; Roy Fielding’s 2000 dissertation describes REST as a later line of development for network-based web APIs.
An API is like a service counter: it lists services, required information, and possible responses while hiding internal organization.
A contract separates use of a function from its internal implementation.
APIs connect applications, libraries, devices, and services.
Documentation, versioning, authentication, and error contracts secure collaboration.
APIs enable evolvable systems because components cooperate through stable contracts.
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