دانلود کتاب مدیریت API – راهنمای معمار برای توسعه و مدیریت API برای سازمان شما

An Application programming interface (API) exposes a business service or an enterprise asset to the application developers. Applications can be installed and accessed from a variety of devices, such as smartphones, tablets, kiosks, gaming consoles, connected cars, and so forth. Google Maps APIs for locating a place on a map, Facebook APIs for gaming or sharing content, and Amazon APIs for product information are some examples of APIs. Developers use these APIs to build cool and innovative apps that enrich the user experience. For example, developers can use APIs from different travel companies to build an app that compares and displays each travel company’s price for the same hotel. A user can then make an informed decision and book the hotel through the company providing the best offer. This saves users from comparing on their own—thus improving the overall experience. APIs thus provide an improved user experience.

An API is a software-to-software interface that defines the contract for applications to talk to each other over a network without user interaction. When you book a hotel room online from a travel portal with your credit card, the travel portal/application sends your booking information to the hotel’s reservation system to block the room. It also sends the credit card information to a payment application. The payment application interacts with a remote banking application to validate the credit card details and process the payment. If the processing is successful, the hotel room is reserved for you. The interaction of the travel portal with the hotel’s reservation system and the payment application both use APIs. As a user, you see only one interaction to collect the booking and credit card information. But behind the scenes, the applications work together using APIs. An API does this by “exposing” some of the business functions to the outside world in a limited fashion. That makes it possible to share business services, assets, and data so that other applications can easily consume without sharing the code base. APIs can be thought of as windows to the code base. They clearly define how a program interacts with the rest of the software application—saving time and resources and avoiding potential legal entanglements. The API contract defines how the service is provided by the provider and consumed by a consumer. The contract can include the definition and terms of service, SLAs like uptime/availability, licensing agreements for service usage and pricing, and the support model.