The Rise of API in Web Development

In recent times, APIs have turned out to be one of the most crucial tools for web developers. As a result of that, APIs have witnessed a tremendous increase in their demand as well as usage. Be it startups or fully-grown companies, APIs have become an important aspect of all businesses. In this post, you will get a chance to take an insight into the rise of API in the field of web development. 

But, before that, let’s understand the concept of API.

What is API?

API or Application Programme Interface is known as the set of protocols and routines that ensure a smooth run of an application. Not just this, API also communicate with the data streams in real-time. Earlier APIs were majorly restricted to desktop applications and computer operating systems. But with increasing competition and rising expectations, the world of web development and design have seen the emergence of web APIs. 

What API Actually Does?

Now, talking about what API actually does - with its set of protocols, it let your product/service communicate with other product/services without even knowing how they are implemented. It does not just give flexibility while designing a product or new tools, but it also simplifies the design, it’s administration and use. 

API in Web Development

With growing web tech space, the desire to excel in the business is bringing APIs in trend. As explained above, API makes it possible for two independent systems to communicate with each other. The same works for web development. Here you have browser APIs and server APIs. With browser APIs, you get access to a certain lower level of functions in order to make a particular experience or to achieve better performance. 

Whereas, the server APIs are often referred to as cloud solutions. It allows you to get access to the services of a server through certain commands. While interacting with the server, JSON or XML are used as the communication languages. 

Importance of APIs in Web Development 

• Increase in Efficiency

Let’s admit, APIs are of great use! Without a doubt, on their own, they can handle and complex and repetitive tasks. In order to be highly efficient, the backend process of an app needs to be cohesive and should run in a highly efficient manner. And APIs interact with the help of data links, which in result, increases the level of cohesion when it is about internal process management. 

• Performance Power-Up

Performance is one of the important factors that play a crucial role in the overall success of a web app and a website. Some say that performance is how fast an application works. Whereas, for some, it is the stability that defines the performance of an application. But in reality, it is the robustness, pace, clearer UI, higher data cohesion, higher fault tolerance, and load-bearing capacity that together ensure the smooth performance of any application. 

• Easier Application Management DevOps

The independence of micro-services makes a sturdy application easy to manage. As a result of that, man force and tasks required for day to day application management are cutting down. Unlike earlier (where J2EE based systems used to take almost 24 hours to compile) containerized deployment through Docker and container orchestration platform, like that of Kubernetes, the compilation speed has increased up to eight times. Now, it can easily be managed with just a click of a button. 

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To conclude this, I would say - yes, API is indeed a blessing for the world of web. The tremendous increase in the APIs’ business value has become a huge success story.