Learning Web APIs

Let us understand about Web APIs.

When used in the context of web development, an API is typically a defined set of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request messages. This also includes the structure of response messages. Also, this is usually in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format. In addition,  “Web API” is virtually a synonym for web services. In the same vein, the recent trend (so-called Web 2.0) is moving away from the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). These services are based towards more direct Representational State Transfer (REST) style communications. Subsequently, Web APIs allows the combination of multiple services into new applications known as mashups.

REST APIs

REST also known as Representational State Transfer. Certainly, this is an architectural style that is becoming increasingly popular in scalable web applications. Moreover, a “REST-ful” web service generally infers much less emphasis on strict formatting. However, this typically uses JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) formatted data in message bodies instead of XML, though much in a RESTful web service is left up to the designers to decide.

SOAP APIs

On the other hand, a SOAP API is known as a receiver of an XML document. This is also expected to respond with an XML document. Moreover, all parameters that the receiver requires should be a part of the XML document.  However, SOAP APIs have fallen out of popularity lately due to their difficulty to integrate across organizations.

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