In our day to day lives we often ask others to do tasks for us that we might not have permission to do ourselves – think about a security guard letting you into a building, or someone at the bank using a key to open a safe. The same goes for software.
These programs have to ask other programs to perform functions on their behalf. They are called Application Programming Interfaces (API) and building a program without these, is literally the same as building a house with no foundation.
An API may be for a website, an operating system, or a database. It is a tool that helps developers write code that interacts with other software. They are essential to ensure your site runs smoothly and in some cases, become more interactive.
For example, they can be tools that allow Windows and OS X applications to interact with other aspects of your operating system. Or they can even be used to power the apps on your smartphone or tablet.
Every time we use a site like Facebook, Twitter or Amazon we are using APIs without really knowing it! When you see a button that allows you to “share” something, or post a link directly onto another site, you’re making use of an API.
If you’re building a website or any sort of apps for your business, you’ll need APIs to ensure your systems run quickly and effectively all the time.
ISolution Technologies can do this for you. If you’re interested in seeking help and advice about APIs for your site, contact us today and we can help you.