eli5: The difference between RESTful API and a Web API
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Web API – usually designed to be internal, has no public documentation, and probably is a patchwork of duct tape and bubble gum to enable the web application to communicate with whatever is supplying the information for the web app to function.
RESTful API – meant to be consumed by third parties (or at least, different departments inside the company). Usually has solid documentation that conforms to a specific model (not always, but people try).
Its a difference between private and public. You can call a web API as a third party, but you’ll have to do a lot of investigative work to use it. RESTful APIs on the other hand are designed to be integrated into different applications.
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