The latest articles on Forem by Belam Muia (@belam_muia). https://forem.com/belam_muia https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3500606%2Ffb6c9b95-7e24-412d-acaf-56dd029a2bad.png https://forem.com/belam_muia en Belam Muia Thu, 14 May 2026 10:19:16 +0000 https://forem.com/belam_muia/what-exactly-is-an-api-4fob https://forem.com/belam_muia/what-exactly-is-an-api-4fob <h2> APIs: The Silent Heroes of the Internet </h2> <p>API is a term every developer whether beginner or experienced has probably heard before. And honestly? Without APIs, the digital economy would collapse and send us back to “traditional ways.”</p> <p>Think about it.</p> <p>When you log into an application, stream a movie on Netflix, or text/call your loved ones on WhatsApp, APIs are working behind the scenes to make all of that possible. Without them, most modern digital experiences simply wouldn’t exist.</p> <p>So… what exactly is an API?</p> <h2> What is an API? </h2> <p>Imagine visiting a restaurant.</p> <p>You don’t walk straight into the kitchen and start telling the chef what food you want. Instead, you sit at your table, place your order through a waiter, and the waiter relays the message to the chef. Once the food is ready, the waiter brings it back to you.</p> <p>That waiter is basically what an API does.</p> <p>An API (<em>Application Programming Interface</em>) acts as the middleman between the client and the server. Every request passes through the API. The client sends a request, the API communicates with the server, and then returns the correct response back to the client.</p> <p>Simple, but powerful.</p> <h2> A Simple API Example </h2> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>https://yoursitebackend.com </code></pre> </div> <p>Take the URL above.</p> <p>Imagine you’re building an e-commerce website. A frontend alone isn’t enough if real users are going to use your platform. You’ll need a backend to handle business logic such as:</p> <ul> <li>Price calculations</li> <li>Tax additions</li> <li>User authentication</li> <li>Inventory management</li> <li>Payments</li> </ul> <p>Now let’s say a user wants to make a purchase.</p> <p>Your frontend will send a request to the backend saying something like:</p> <blockquote> <p>“User A is making a purchase. Please calculate the total price for these items.”</p> </blockquote> <p>The backend processes the request and sends back a response.</p> <p>That entire communication process is an API call.</p> <h2> Characteristics of an API </h2> <h3> 1. Abstraction </h3> <p>If you’ve done Object-Oriented Programming before, this term probably sounds familiar.</p> <p>APIs hide internal server logic and only expose what the client should see. For example, users don’t need to see raw database errors or sensitive backend processes.</p> <p>Imagine getting this on your screen:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight sql"><code><span class="k">Database</span> <span class="k">connection</span> <span class="n">failed</span> <span class="k">at</span> <span class="n">port</span> <span class="mi">3306</span> </code></pre> </div> <p>Yeah… not exactly user-friendly 😭</p> <p>APIs help prevent that by abstracting the complexity away from users.</p> <h3> 2. Standardization </h3> <p>APIs follow specific structures or schemas. You can’t just format data however you want.</p> <p>One of the most common standards used today is JSON.</p> <p>Example:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight json"><code><span class="p">{</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nl">"username"</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"pookiepotato"</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nl">"role"</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"developer"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">}</span><span class="w"> </span></code></pre> </div> <p>This standardization makes communication between systems predictable and easier to manage.</p> <h3> 3. Endpoints </h3> <p>Communication in APIs happens through specific URLs called <em>endpoints</em>.</p> <p>Endpoints are basically locations where resources can be accessed.</p> <p>Example:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>https://yoursitebackend.com/users https://yoursitebackend.com/products https://yoursitebackend.com/orders </code></pre> </div> <p>Each endpoint usually serves a different purpose.</p> <h2> API Architectures </h2> <p>An architecture is like a blueprint for how an API is designed and communicates.</p> <p>Some common API architectures include:</p> <ol> <li>REST APIs</li> <li>SOAP APIs</li> <li>GraphQL APIs</li> </ol> <p>There are many others too, but these are among the most popular.</p> <h2> API Types </h2> <h3> 1. Public APIs </h3> <p>These APIs are accessible to the public with fewer restrictions. Most of the time, all you need is an API key to start using them.</p> <p>A good example is the Google Maps API.</p> <h3> 2. Private APIs </h3> <p>These are used internally within organizations and are not exposed publicly.</p> <h3> 3. Partner APIs </h3> <p>These APIs are shared between specific businesses or partners under controlled access.</p> <h3> 4. Composite APIs </h3> <p>Composite APIs combine multiple API requests into a single request, making systems more efficient.</p> <p>There’s honestly so much more to APIs than just the name, and that’s what makes them exciting to learn.</p> <p>I’m still exploring APIs myself, and I’ll definitely be sharing more about them in upcoming blogs 🚀</p> frontend backend fullstack