What an API is and why a good one makes all the difference

Ginger Payments is a modular payment platform that offers all functionality through the Ginger API.

We bang on about our developer-friendly API, but the non-developers among you may be wondering what an API is. And why should you care whether it’s developer-friendly or not?

Before we can look at why we should care, we’ll have to begin with what an API is. API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface. The Application part is simple enough: it’s any of the programs we use for anything from seeing if it’s going to rain or checking our bank balance to buying a t-shirt from a web store. The Programming part is what the developers do, and the Interface part is where two applications meet.

Put it all together and an API is a set of instructions telling one application how to communicate with another. The API specifies which functionality an application has available and how another application can access this. Take the Google Maps API. This lists functionality that you can access from Google Maps, such as adding a map to an app or calculating travel times. Say you wanted to add a map to your website. You’d then use the Google Maps Embed API. This is a piece of code that accesses Google’s database to collect the data that you need.

You can use the Google Maps Embed API to, for example, include a map with directions in your company website.

So what the API does is take your request for data to the application’s database, fetch the data you require and then return that data to you. Unless of course, you have asked for the impossible, in which case a good API will tell you why your request can’t be fulfilled.

Now, if the API is a set of instructions, these need to be documented to be of any use to developers. The documentation will tell them which formats the API will accept, what they can request and most importantly how to request it. It should therefore be extensive and clear. And it should be supported and subject to constant improvement.

This is why Ginger calls its API developer-friendly. Ginger started with the end in mind: to develop a great API. But what did Ginger mean by a great API? Well, an API that meets specific design principles that make developers happy (RESTful, propagate errors, don’t expose underlying libraries, make it modular and testable, to name but a few). They also meant an API that is clearly documented and supported. And one that gives you access to all the Ginger Payments Platform functionality.

Our platforms consists of a collection of payment services that can be accessed through the API

This is why non-developers should care about APIs (well, the Ginger Payments one at least): our API makes it easy to integrate Ginger Payments with your system as well as to come up with your own solutions. Our API discloses all the Ginger Payments Platform functionality, which means that your developers can easily build… well whatever payment option you need.

For those new to Ginger Payments, we’re running a modular payment platform to make payment integration easier and more flexible. Come check us out.