An application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications.An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. It expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types.
1) an API(Application Programming Interface) is a set of defined functions and methods for interfacing with the underlying operating system or another program or service running on the computer. 2) It is usually used by establishing a reference to a library in your software or importing a function from a dll. For example, there are API's for OS (WinAPI), API's for other applications (like databases) and for specific libraries (for example, image processing), etc. APIs are usually developed in a form consumable by a client application. For C/C++ applications, it a set header files and dynamic/static libraries. For example, Amazon.com released its API so that Web site developers could more easily access Amazon's product information. Using the Amazon API, a third party Web site can post direct links to Amazon products with updated prices and an option to buy now.. An API is a software-to-software interface, not a user interface. With APIs, applications talk to each other without any user knowledge or interven An API differs from an application binary interface (ABI) in that an API is source code-based while an ABI is a binary interface. In such languages, the API is still distributed as a library. For example, the Java language libraries include a set of APIs that are provided in the form of the JDK used by the developers to build new Java programs. API stands for Application Programming Interface, i.e. API is the way for an application to interact with certain system/application/library/etc. For example, there are API's for OS (WinAPI), API's for other applications (like databases) and for specific libraries (for example, image processing), etc. APIs are usually developed in a form consumable by a client application. For C/C++ applications, it a set header files and dynamic/static libraries. In most procedural languages, an API specifies a set of functions or routines that accomplish a specific task or are allowed to interact with a specific software component. This specification is presented in a human readable format in paper books or in electronic formats like eBooks or as man pages. In such languages, the API is still distributed as a library. For example, the Java language libraries include a set of APIs that are provided in the form of the JDK used by the developers to build new Java programs. The API itself is a chunk of software code written as a series of XML messages. Each XML message corresponds to a different function of the remote service. For example, in a conferencing API, there are XML messages that correspond with each element required to schedule a new Web conference. Those elements include the conference time, the organizer's name and contact information, who's invited to the conference, the duration of the conference, et cetera. Companies who release their API often do so as part of a larger software development kit (SDK) that includes the API, programming tools and other instructional documents to make the developer's job easier. API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface. An API is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building web-enabled and mobile-based applications. SDK is an acronym for Software Developer Kit. When a company publishes their API, there’s typically accompanied documentation that shows how the API authenticates, how it can be queried, and what the appropriate responses are. In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. In such languages, the API is still distributed as a library. For example, the Java language libraries include a set of APIs that are provided in the form of the JDK used by the developers to build new Java programs. API, an abbreviation of a pplication program interface, is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. 4. Twitter APIs: Twitter offers two APIs. The REST API allows developers to access core Twitter data and the Search API provides methods for developers to interact with Twitter Search and trends data. 5.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7440379/what-exactly-is-the-meaning-of-an-api http://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/how-to-leverage-an-api-for-conferencing1.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Api http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7440379/what-exactly-is-the-meaning-of-an-api https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Api http://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/how-to-leverage-an-api-for-conferencing2.htm https://marketingtechblog.com/what-does-rest-stand-for-example-rest-api/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Api http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/API.html
what does an API do