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Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, are specifications that enable software programs to share their data, services, and functionalities with other software programs. Drawing on familiar concepts, like the division of labor, specialization, and interchangeability, APIs have played a critical role in the acceleration of numerous industries by slashing development costs and enabling businesses to focus on the things that matter most to them and their customers.
In this article, we dive into the world of APIs. We describe what they are, how they work, and how businesses can leverage them to improve productivity and bring valuable products to market. Here’s what we cover:
- What Is an API?
- How Can Businesses Use APIs?
- APIs Explained: The Types of APIs and API Use Cases
- Get Started With the 7SIGNAL API
Want to learn about the 7SIGNAL API? Chat with our sales team!
What Is an API?
Fundamentally, an API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and protocols that enables otherwise unrelated software applications to communicate with one another. These rules and protocols are dictated by the API developer and govern how third-party applications can access the data and services provided by the API.
APIs are primarily designed to offer specific functionalities or services to other developers, applications, or systems. These functionalities may involve data retrieval, data processing, authentication, communication protocols, etc. APIs are often designed with modularity and reusability in mind, making it easy for developers to integrate them into their own applications or services.
Some of the best-known digital services provide public APIs for little or no cost. Among the most popular are Google’s All Maps Embed API, which provides access to Google Maps; the Stripe API, which enables payment processing; and various social media-related APIs like Meta’s Graph API and the Twitter API.
A defining characteristic of APIs is that they’re entirely sovereign from the apps that integrate them. This offers their users two primary benefits:
- Reduced Development Time: APIs come ready-made, meaning developers can simply add them to their apps rather than replicate their functionalities from scratch.
- Near Zero Maintenance: All bug fixes, software updates, and additional features are handled by the API developer. Moreover, as long as an API’s structure and behavior don’t change, the underlying software can change frequently without disrupting integrations.
In essence, APIs allow programming teams to focus on what’s most important to them, like bringing new software applications to market. Since APIs can be used to enhance apps with common functionalities like multi-factor authentication (MFA), messaging, and push notifications, programming teams can invest their time and energy into taking care of things that add more value.
Who Creates APIs?
APIs are typically developed by individual developers, teams within a company, or third-party developers who provide APIs for public use. Some companies even offer APIs to their customers or partners, allowing them to integrate with their software systems and services.
More specifically, the task of creating APIs is typically given to software developers or development teams who build them as integral components of larger software systems. This enables seamless integration with other applications or systems, running the gamut from web applications to mobile apps, desktop software, operating systems, and cloud platforms.
What Is the Purpose of APIs?
Software development is a time-consuming and technically complex process. APIs were initially introduced to streamline and expedite software development by facilitating the reuse of software code.
Consider e-commerce companies, like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, that need to process a large number of payments and embed their payment gateways in a variety of different settings across multiple platforms. Rather than build bespoke modules to facilitate payments in each of these unique settings, they can build a single API, or purchase one from a third-party provider, and make it available to teams across their organization.
As software has gained increasing significance in the global economy, the role played by APIs has expanded in lock step. They’ve contributed to the emergence of federated business models, in which new business concepts can be swiftly introduced to the market with the support of API-based services. In addition, they’ve democratized the process of bringing new products to market by lowering traditional barriers to entry like technical expertise, business experience, and capital requirements.
How Do APIs Work?
APIs facilitate communication between various software systems. They serve as links connecting applications seeking information and applications that deliver it. When an application sends a request to another application through an API, it anticipates receiving a response in exchange.
Generally speaking, there are four key steps to API communications:
1. Authentication and Access
Prior to utilizing an API, users or applications must authenticate themselves and acquire appropriate access credentials. This process usually involves an API key or access token issued by the API provider to authorized users. Authentication and access control play a vital role in ensuring API security.
2. Requests
An API request refers to a message transmitted from a client application to the server application hosting the API. The request typically contains details about the requested data or service, including any necessary parameters. The API provider processes the request and generates a response accordingly.
3. Response
An API response refers to a message sent from the server application back to the client application that initiated the request. The response typically contains the requested data or service, accompanied by metadata or additional information regarding the response.
4. Errors
If an issue arises during the request-response cycle, the API may produce an error response. Error responses can occur due to various reasons, such as invalid input data, server errors, or authentication problems. They often comprise a status code and a descriptive message elucidating the encountered problem. These are some common errors:
- Not Found Errors: This occurs when the server is unable to find the requested resource or endpoint. This situation can arise due to various reasons, such as an incorrect API endpoint or URL being provided, or when the server has modified, removed, or altered the requested resource.
- Permission Errors: This occurs when the user or application lacks the required permissions or access credentials to execute a specific action or access a particular resource. Such instances can occur when the API key or access token provided is invalid, or when the user does not possess the necessary authorization to access the requested resource.
- Parameter Errors: This occurs when the client submits incorrect or invalid parameters within the API request. Such situations can occur when the client sends parameters with an incorrect data type, when the parameters are missing or invalid, or when the parameter values fall outside the acceptable range.
- Transaction-Specific Errors: This occurs when there is a problem with the transaction itself, which could involve issues like payment failures or database errors. Such errors can stem from various causes, including network connectivity problems, insufficient funds, or constraints within the database.
How Can Businesses Use APIs?
Although APIs may initially appear to be predominantly relevant to technology companies, they now provide services that virtually any business, regardless of industry, will find valuable. For instance, most businesses these days have websites; and API-powered services like Google Analytics can be used to monitor web traffic for sales and marketing purposes.
Other ways businesses commonly use APIs include:
- E-commerce platforms that leverage APIs to connect with logistics, payment, and shipping services.
- Banks that use APIs to assist customers in downloading their financial data for analysis through popular personal finance apps or websites.
- Marketers that rely on APIs when executing email campaigns through marketing automation solutions.
- IT professionals that use APIs to monitor the performance of corporate systems and Wi-Fi infrastructure.
The Benefits of APIs
To learn how APIs can be used to improve your business, read this article:
APIs Explained: The Types of APIs and API Use Cases
APIs can be classified according to their usage and functionality. To learn more, read about the different types of APIs and the most common API use cases:
Get Started With the 7SIGNAL API
At 7SIGNAL, we offer a number of enterprise Wi-Fi optimization solutions that help you build healthier wireless networks. With the 7SIGNAL API, you can integrate device and WLAN metadata collected via the 7SIGNAL platform into the software tools that you use on a daily basis. You’ll be able to sync relevant data, set Wi-Fi performance alarms, configure flexible workflows, and more.
To learn how the 7SIGNAL API can help you optimize your Wi-Fi network, read the article:
7SIGNAL® is the leader in enterprise Wi-Fi optimization, providing insight into wireless networks and control over Wi-Fi performance so businesses and organizations can thrive. Our cloud-based platform continually tests and measures Wi-Fi performance at the edges of the network, enabling fast solutions to digital experience issues and stronger connections for mission-critical users, devices, and applications. Learn more at www.7signal.com.