Twitter recently announced they will no longer support free access to the Twitter API. Everyone seems up in arms about it and I can’t figure out what an API even is. What would doing something like this actually affect?
I’ve tried looking up what an API is, but I can’t really wrap my head around it.
Edit: I’ve had so many responses to read through and there’s been a ton of helpful explanations! Much appreciated everyone 🙂 thanks for keeping this doofus in the know
In: 419
An API is something that passes information or data from an app to another app. Think of this like you (the requesting app) asking for a hamburger and fries in a restaurant (the app sending the info). So you put an order and you get a hamburger and fries on your plate.
The inside workings in the kitchen – the ham being cooked, the potatoes being sliced and fried – are away from your knowledge and it doesn’t matter to you (assuming you trust the restaurant). The API is like the waiter who gets you what you requested. This way, the programs behind many apps request information and the API is the middleman between these two.
Usually apps use APIs to make their work easier. Like Uber doesn’t have to recreate Google maps to show the driver coming to you, they just use the Google maps API. At the same time, the entire Google maps program is not available to Uber, they only request what they need to show on their app and get it from Google maps.
Twitter not making their API available for free would mean analytics apps, management tools and other apps that use Twitter information will be affected.
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