API
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Web DevelopmentWhat is an API?
The best analogy is a waiter in a restaurant. You (program A) are sitting at the table. The kitchen (program B) prepares food. You don't go to the kitchen yourself - you give the order to the waiter (API), he passes it to the kitchen and brings you the finished dish (result).
Without APIs, the modern Internet would not exist. When you buy a plane ticket on an aggregator, the aggregator asks the airlines for the prices and shows them to you through the API. When you log in via "Sign in with Google" - this is also the work of the API.
How does it work technically?
The program sends an HTTP request (GET, POST) to a certain server with the required parameters (for example, an access key). The server processes the request and returns a response, usually in JSON format, which the program already parses and displays to the user.
Options for using the API
Stripe or WayForPay integration. The client pays on your site, the money goes to the bank through the API.
Using the OpenAI API to embed ChatGPT into your own enterprise messenger or CRM.
The new lead on the landing automatically flies to your CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive) through their API.
/ FAQ
To write an integration from scratch - yes. But No-Code tools (Zapier, Make) allow you to work with APIs through a visual interface without code.
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