A Crash Course on REST APIs
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the backbone of software communication.
In the acronym API, “Application” refers to software that performs a distinct function. An “Interface” is a contract between two applications that defines a set of rules, protocols, and methods for communication. “Programming” makes all of this possible.
APIs have been around for a long time in one form or the other:
- In the '60s and 70's, we had subroutines and libraries to share code and functionality between programs.
- In the 1980s, Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) emerged, allowing programs running on different computers to execute procedures on each other.
- With the widespread adoption of the Internet in the 2000s, web services such as SOAP became widely adopted.
- The late 2000s and early 2010s marked the rise of RESTful APIs, which have since become the dominant approach due to their simplicity and scalability.
In recent years, the API-first approach to software development has gained significant traction, driven by the emphasis on building loosely coupled services. REST APIs, in particular, have emerged as the go-to choice for developers worldwide.
