The internet is not only increasingly connecting people, it’s connecting systems too. Using API’s.
An API allows one system to talk to another. Like an iPhone-app talks to a platform like Facebook. Or site to site: payment orders sent by a web shop to a payment processing company, for example.
Your company may benefit a great deal if your site or database can be approached by the sites, apps and systems of other companies.
Imagine you run an online T-shirt print shop where visitors can have their own designs printed. A larger online store like Amazon shows up and wants to start selling your T-shirts. Parties like these will not be doing manual orders through your site. Having a fully automated point of sale is a necessity. This is achieved by offering an API.
A receiving end – a client – can also benefit by connecting to APIs. Imagine that you’ve got an idea that involves an iPhone app that shows you where your nearby friends are. Instead of asking the user who their friends are, instead you can just connect to the Facebook API and ask your user if you can use their list of friends there.
RESTful API’s
Today’s modern APIs are designed according to RESTful specifications. REST is a technical vocabulary, in which the HTTP-protocol, which we use to visit websites every day, is used the way it was intended by its designers.
If you choose to offer an API, a RESTful API is the way to go. It is the most logical and most popular way to connect, and it will make your partners happy.
Depending on the technologies that your systems consist of, I may be able to provide your systems with a RESTful API. That or I can make your systems connect to the APIs of other companies. The possibilities are countless.
Would you like to connect with your partners?