Most Common Terms and Jargon in the API World

Hello everyone, let’s talk about APIs! In today’s post, we’re going to talk about the most commonly used terms in the API world!! 😲

Let’s explore how these concepts are related and get a little closer to the integration ecosystem because after all, we need to integrate more and more! 😄

DISCLAIMER 1: I created this post intending to be a reference source for simple concepts and reference material for my future students/teachers.

DISCLAIMER 2: This post contains a lot of my experience in the integration field, has parts from queries made to ChatGPT, and also has external references.

DISCLAIMER 3: If any term does not make sense to you, leave a comment and I will update the post with your suggestion!

API

• Application Programming Interface.
• Allows communication between different systems or platforms.
• It is a set of protocols, routines, and tools to build software and allow different systems to communicate and exchange information.

API Design-first

• Approach to API development that begins with creating an API specification before starting to implement it.
• This allows developers to have a clear vision of what the API should do and how it should be used before starting to code.

API Design

• API Design is the process of designing an API, including its architecture, features, data format, usability, and documentation.
• The goal of API Design is to create an interface that is easy to use and understand for developers, while also meeting business needs and being scalable and secure.

API Versioning

• The process of assigning different versions to an API over time, allows it to evolve without affecting existing users.

API Specification

• An API Specification is a document that describes the features and interface of an API.
• The API specification may include technical details such as the architecture of the API, the supported data formats, the authentication and authorization methods, and the available endpoints.
• It may also include information about the user experience, such as code examples and documentation to help developers understand how to use the API.
• It is the resulting product of the API Design.

API Documentation

• Detailed documentation or reference material is provided by the creator of an API.
• It serves to explain how to use the API and demonstrate its various endpoints, parameters, and limitations.

API Provider

• The API Provider is the person or company that creates and makes an API available for use by other apps.
• The API Provider is responsible for designing, implementing, documenting, and hosting the API, as well as managing its availability and performance.
• The API Provider can be an individual developer, a technology company, or any other organization that wants to expose its capabilities through an API to be consumed by other apps.

API Portal

• A platform that provides access to one or more APIs, usually including documentation, code examples, and other useful information for developers.
• It is a bridge between the API Provider and the API Consumer.
• They are ways to make APIs public and offer content to educate developers about the APIs, their use, and how to be the base for other APIs.
• API Portal provides information about the APIs at each stage of the API Lifecycle.

API Marketplace

• An online platform that provides access to a wide variety of different APIs, usually grouped by category or purpose.

API Implementation

• The process of creating and implementing an API.
• After the API is created, it is necessary to implement the code that makes the API work and host the API on a server so that it is available for use by other apps.

API Request

• A call to a server or database via a URL and endpoint.

API Response

• A response is provided by an API when it receives an API Request.
• The response may contain data, error messages, or other information depending on the request made and the API Implementation.

API Invocation

• The action of sending a request to an API.

API Call

• The process of sending a request to an API.

API Consumer

• The person or application that uses an API to access the data or resources provided by it.
• The API consumer sends API Requests to the API through an API Call and receives an API Response with the requested data or information.

API Keys

• A unique identifier that enables other software to authenticate a user, developer, or software through an API Call to an API that ensures that this person or software is truly who they claim to be.
• This unique identifier authenticates the API instead of a user and provides a certain level of security for API Calls.

API Endpoint

• The end of a communication channel.
• When an API interacts with other systems, each point of interaction is considered an endpoint.
• It can be a server, service, or database where a resource lives.

API Economy

• The term is used to describe the exchange of value between a user and an organization.
• It is the set of companies, individuals, and organizations that use APIs to generate value and innovate in their businesses.
• This can include the creation and sale of APIs, or the use of third-party APIs to integrate new features or functionality into existing products or services.

API Integration

• Connecting two or more applications to exchange data between them and connect to the external world.

API Mashup

• An application that combines data or functionality from two or more different APIs to create something new and useful.

API Broker

• A server acts as an intermediary between a client and several different APIs, allowing the client to access all of them through a single interface.

API Management

• Also known as APIM.
• Software that helps manage and monitor the usage of one or more APIs, including things like authentication, rate limiting, usage metrics, and security.

API Monetization

• The process by which a business can generate revenue from its APIs.
• Since APIs enable users to access and integrate data from different sources, they can be used by different developers to integrate relevant services within their products, digital services, or applications, which could become the source of revenue for both public and private services and applications.
• The process of generating revenue from one or more APIs, usually through business models such as subscriptions, usage-based charges, or data sales.

API Gatekeeper

• A system that controls access to an API. It checks if API requests are authorized and, if so, allows them to be processed by the API implementation.
• If an API request is not authorized, the API gatekeeper can deny access to the API or provide an alternative API response.
• The API gatekeeper can be used to protect the API from unauthorized access and to ensure that only authorized applications can access the API’s resources.
• It can also be used to monitor API usage and to control API request traffic, for example, by limiting the number of requests that can be made in a given period.

API Proxy

• An API proxy is an intermediary between an API implementation and the applications that consume the API.
• It receives API requests from the applications, forwards them to the API implementation, and then returns the API responses to the applications.
• The API proxy can be used to add functionality to an API implementation, such as authentication, caching, rate-limiting, and error management, without needing to change the API code.
• It can also be used to hide the implementation details of the API and to protect the API from unauthorized access.

API Client

• An API client is a person or program that uses the API.
• The client makes requests to the API to retrieve some information or change something within the application.
• Your web browser is a client — it interacts with APIs from different websites to get their page content.

API Rate Limiting

• The process of limiting the number of requests that an API can receive from a specific client within a specific period.
• API rate limiting helps prevent overloading the API with too many requests, which can impact its performance and availability.
• It can also be used to prevent malicious or excessive use of the API.

Throttling API

• A process similar to Rate Limiting, but which applies to the number of requests an API can process in a given period.

API Gateway

• It is an API management tool that serves as an intermediary between the client and a set of backend services.
• Act as Gatekeepers and Proxies that moderate all your API Calls, aggregate the data you need, and return the correct result.
• Service that acts as an intermediary between a client and an API, usually providing additional functionality such as authentication, API Identification, API Rate Limiting, Usage Metrics, and security.

API Security

• It is an umbrella term that defines a set of practices that aim to prevent malicious attacks, misuse, abuse, and exploitation of API vulnerabilities.
• Basic Authentication, Authorization, Tokens, Multi-Factor Authentication, and other advanced security measures are included in this package.
• APIs are widely used to allow different systems and applications to integrate and share data, which makes them an attractive target for hackers.

API Sandbox

• A testing environment that allows developers to experiment with an API without affecting real data or systems.

API Console

• A tool that provides access to an API and allows developers to experiment by sending requests and examining responses.

API Notebook

• A tool that allows developers to test and experiment with APIs through a browser-based interface.
• It provides a platform to write, run and share sample code that makes API requests and displays responses.
• It is useful for developers who want to learn how to use an API or for those who want to test and debug their integrations with an API.

API Stub

• A program that simulates an API for testing or demonstration purposes.

API Mock

• A program that simulates an API in a more advanced way, including the ability to return custom responses to different requests.

API Wrapper

• It is the program that encapsulates an API and provides an easier-to-use interface for developers.

API Facade

• This program provides a simplified interface to a complex API, hiding the underlying implementation details.

API Packing

• Process of including multiple APIs in a single application or package.
• This can help simplify the distribution and management of the APIs and save resources.

API Admin

• It is the person responsible for managing one or more APIs and having tasks such as updates, maintenance, and user support.

API Analyst

• A person that is responsible for analyzing an API’s usage data and metrics to understand how it is being used and identify opportunities for improvement.

API Developer

• A person is responsible for developing one or more APIs, including tasks such as coding, testing, and debugging.

API Governance

• Process of managing and controlling one or more APIs, including tasks such as defining policies, standards, and procedures.

API Management

• It is the process of managing APIs to allow them to be easily used by application developers.
• This includes creating and documenting APIs, managing access and usage, and monitoring API performance.

API Development

• Process of creating one or more APIs, including tasks such as design, coding, testing, and debugging.

API Lifecycle

• It’s an approach to API Management and API Development that aims to provide a holistic view — of the flow as a whole — of how to deal with APIs around their different stages of life, from conception to decommissioning.
• May have tasks such as planning, design, implementation, testing, publishing, monitoring, and maintenance.
• It is usually divided into 3 stages: Creation, Control, and Consumption.
• At Mulesoft the division is Design, Implementation, and Management.

API Layer

• It is a proxy that unifies all services offered using a graphical interface to provide more interactivity to the user.
• They are language agnostic and help to describe the services and data types used to exchange information.

API-Led Connectivity

• API-Led Connectivity is a method for building integrations between systems using APIs as the main means of connection. This method involves creating three types of APIs: experience, process, and system.
• Experience APIs are meant for the end user and are used to create an interface with the user.
• Process APIs are used to automate business processes.
• System APIs are used to integrate systems and protect the backend.
• The goal of API-Led Connectivity is to provide a faster and more flexible connection between systems and applications.

API Testing

• The process of evaluating an API to ensure that it meets the specified requirements and works as intended.
• API testing can include testing the API’s functionality, performance, security, and other aspects of its behavior.

API Execution

• API Execution is the process of making an API Call and getting an API Response.
• This involves sending an API request to the API server, waiting for the response, and processing the received response.

API Trigger

• The entry point through which the API Implementation starts its execution. It can be through requests, scheduling, events, etc.

API REST

• An API that follows the REST (Representational State Transfer) architectural pattern. This pattern defines how the API should be designed and how the data should be exchanged between clients and servers.

API GraphQL

• API that uses the GraphQL query language to allow clients to request exactly the data they need and no more.

API SOAP

• A SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) API is an API that uses the SOAP protocol to communicate with other systems.

Reverse API

• Also known as Webhook, HTTP Push API, HTTP Callback, or Web Callback.
• A function of an API that allows it to send notifications to other systems when certain events occur. For example, a social media API can use webhooks to notify other systems whenever a new post is published.

References

• TabNews — Victor Manhani — O Que É Uma API?
• ChatGPT
• Brij Kishore Pandey — Master API Terminology — LinkedIn