API synchronous vs asynchronous in business
API synchronous vs asynchronous — similarities and differences, and some tips to help you decide which API will be better in your specific business case. A practical knowledge for every company manager who focuses on automating processes with APIs.
Do you want a synchronous or asynchronous API? — asks a technology company
If you decide to work with a software house, economic data provider or any partner with whom you integrate via API, this question is asked quite often. The problem is that not every manager has adequate knowledge about the differences between synchronous and asynchronous APIs. So it is not all possible that they can immediately assess the long-term effects of adopting a given solution. Therefore, this article is dedicated both to our clients who decide to use Company Information API of Transparent Data, and to all business people who want to explore the topic in an accessible way, understandable not only for developers.
Step by step you will learn from this article:
- What is API
- What are the API’s benefits for business
- How the synchronous and asynchronous API works
- What is a data queue
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of API synchronous and asynchronous
- When to choose a synchronous API and when to choose an asynchronous API
- What the API response time depends on
- In which Transparent Data solutions you will meet the synchronous API, and in which the asynchronous API, and why
What is API and why 98% of business leaders consider it the key to digital transformation
The term API is a common abbreviation of Application Programming Interface. For programmers, an API is simply a specific set of rules (methods) and descriptions, thanks to which various programs can exchange data with each other — query and obtain specific information. A bit like a phone call or a tube where you can throw something and get something at the end.
Generally, and very layman: an API is an instruction about how to ask and what you can get in response. API integration, in turn, gives you access to certain data directly in your CRP or ERP system — thanks to API, data will appear in your own business application, you do not need to log in to any external websites or platforms.
What are the biggest advantages of API integration?
First of all, APIs enable the automation of business processes, which translates into the reduction of:
- expenditure on human resources
- time needed to complete the process and implement innovations
- expenses related to keeping data up-to-date and quality, i.e. data management.
Once implemented in an organization, API synchronous and asynchronous may also affect:
- better cooperation between the various departments of the company (faster communication, information exchange),
- higher satisfaction of the end customer (who is, for example, served faster in a more adequate manner).
It is because of these benefits that the vast majority of TOP managers use the Application Programming Interface API. According to RapidAPI data, more than 98% of enterprise leaders say APIs are a key part of their digital transformation efforts, and 97% agree that successfully implementing an API strategy is essential to securing future revenues and growing their organization.
In summary,
API = operational improvement and cost reduction
How the synchronous and asynchronous API works
Synchronous and asynchronous APIs differ in the way they process queries. Importantly, in the context of particular types of API, what our innate intuition tells us is correct — synchronous means “happening at the same time” and asynchronous “not happening at the same time”. Synchronous API says “I have accepted the task, I process it and I will return the answer immediately. Wait ” and the asynchronous API says “Accepted the task, processing, ask in some time if I’m finished”.
To explain how API synchronous vs asynchronous works, very often developers use also another useful term: so-called processing by the queue system. Why “queues”? Well, APIs often return not only one piece of information, eg YES or NO, but the entire set of information (eg data from source X, data from source Y, sometimes several hundred data from one source). Aggregating (retrieving) such current data from the database takes time, and the word queue itself is a linear data structure in the IT dictionary. New inquiries can, for example, reach the end of the line and wait for their turn to be served, like a new customer (the so-called FIFO queue) or, inter alia, be given priority.
What does synchronous API mean?
If the API call is synchronous, code execution will stop until data is returned to your system. This means that as long as the response is not returned by the API, your application will not perform any further tasks. In other words, your application will have to wait instead of having to take care of other tasks. There is no queue here, but customers are served one after the other.
For this reason, a synchronous API may sometimes be perceived by the user as being conducive to lag in time or in performance — for example, the interface may appear frozen while the API is just waiting for a response. However, in many cases, where the synchronous API does not process large volumes of data from multiple sources, it is quite fast and great for common read operations.
What does asynchronous API mean?
Asynchronous calls also wait for API responses from the server to return, but unlike synchronous calls, they don’t block the application. Here, the polling process consists of at least two calls:
- the first ordering a given operation (API replies to your system that it has accepted the order)
- and the second which checks if the operation has been performed and asks if the result is ready (there may be more calls of this type).
API synchronous vs asynchronous — advantages and disadvantages of each solution
When to choose a synchronous API and when to choose an asynchronous API?
Synchronous API works great in two situations:
- First, with simple polling. It is then fast and efficient, and it is also easy to integrate.
- Secondly, there are processes where, for example, you first want to check whether the client is on the sanction lists, and if there is, you want to cut-off such a client immediately and not collect further information about them. It would make no business sense to immediately query the server for its presence in other business registers. However, if the client was not on the sanctions lists, then you want to confirm the validity and reliability of his registration data, his financial statements and additional information about whether there is a PEP. In other words, if there is code in the application that will execute correctly only after receiving the first API response, then the synchronous API will be more profitable for business than the asynchronous API.
In turn, the asynchronous API also has its advantages, which often translate into its choice. Those are:
- After sending the inquiry, you receive a confirmation that it has been accepted for execution (i.e. you receive the inquiry ID in return). This is useful for various companies, e.g. to document checking contractors before offices. An example would be the AML API.
- At the same time, subsequent inquiries are accepted and the answer to them is carried out — so a queue of various tasks is built, but the application does not freeze (you can still use other functions)
- Asynchronous API is great for querying multiple data sources and generating complex responses when one of the sources may not work properly
To sum up: It is worth implementing the asynchronous API when — in order to perform the request — we need to query external services (where sometimes we have to wait for the possibility of polling due to the processing capacity of the source) or when the operation is simply long and we do not want to keep an active connection for a long time.
What are the response times of the synchronous and asynchronous API depend on?
The answer to this question is a complex topic, we have to honestly admit. The API response time is influenced by:
- capabilities of the end data sources (if a synchronous or asynchronous API must reach to other services in order to collect the necessary data, the time of API response will be extended accordingly by how much time the application has to collect data from the source);
- data infrastructure (if the API is operated by one machine, the increased traffic may extend the response time);
- the way of queuing tasks (FIFO, LIFO, priorities).
API asynchronous and synchronous in Transparent Data solutions
In our data software house, we assume that the API must necessarily be matched to both the data resources the client is asking for and to the business needs. Hence, we offer as standard:
- Asynchronous API in such box products as Data Integrator business information data platform. Thanks to it, you can safely and efficiently download commercial reports and financial statements, verify Polish contractors for AML on sanctions and PEP lists or check who is the ultimate beneficial owner of a given company.
- Synchronous API in a solution for monitoring companies in terms of registry changes. Processing here is very fast and operations are relatively simple. Hence, the use of a synchronous API is more convenient for our clients.
The authors of the article
Michał Witkowski | Project Manager in Transparent Data
He has been working in Project Management for seven years. His know-how and a positive attitude to challenges are supported in this field by engineering and management strong formal background. He approaches projects the same way he approaches the arts of Brazilian jiu-jitsu - not only the whole fight, but also each round must be completed successfully.
Mateusz Antkowiak | Team Leader / PHP Developer in Transparent Data
Professional developer for over a decade. He began his journey with code from such exotic destinations as Lazarus Pascal or Delphi, and now he is drawn into the stable waters of object-oriented programming. He has extensive experience in process automation and really rare ability to translate machine language to human.
