All about APIs

API stands for application programming interface. It acts as a mediator transporting requests from client to server and response from server to the client (browser).

The different parts of API include

Types of APIs:-

1. SOAP API :- more secure, slow and heavy, less code

2. REST API:- less secure(hence requires more layers of security), fast and light, more code, used more widely nowadays.

API consists of the following things:-

1. An Endpoint- the touchpoint between API and another system

2. Method- specifies what a client must do to make a request or defines the response that the client receives in return

3. Body- request body refers to the data sent by client to API, and response body refers to the data sent by the API to the client.

4. Header- HTTP headers refer to the metadata associated with the request and the response

5. Parameter- it refers to the different variables in a URL pathway

6. Status code- indicates the status of the sent response

API Methods:-

1. GET

2. PUT

3. PATCH

4. POST

5. DELETE

Status Code:-

1. 1xx: tells transfer protocol-level information

2. 2xx: success

3. 3xx: redirection

4. 4xx: Client error

5. 5xx: Server error

Ways to keep APIs safe:

1. Password hash

2. HTTPS

3. API key

4. OAuth

5. Timestamp and parameter validation

How is an API made:-

1. Route

2. Controller

3. Models