The difference between an API and a REST API

Question

The difference between an API and a REST API

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Answer 1

An API is just the interface into a library or something.

Consider cars. The API would be the steering wheel, the gas pedal, the turn signals, the shifter and the brakes for instance. It is standardized so you can go into any car and operate the car in the same way because it has a standard API.

Now REST API is just an API. In our car example, just imagine that REST API is the stick shift API. WHere this is a clutch and gear shift.

Then you might get into a forklift. Well the API is different, do you know the forklift API? It’s in the Forklift manual, you can read it and use the forklift once you understand its API.

In programming, the API is the set of functions you can call from your program to get a library or OS to do something.