The difference between an API and a REST API
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An API is just a formal, well-defined interface for programs to interact with each other. These interacting programs can be running on the same machine, or they can be communicating over a network. Doesn’t matter. The API just makes it possible to pass data back and forth in a structured manner.
A REST API is a certain type of API. It defines a set of standard rules as to how the computer hosting the API is supposed to behave, how it’s supposed to handle requests made to it, how you’re supposed to interact with it, how you’re supposed to access its data. The implementation details, that is how the API works under the hood, don’t matter. What a REST API is all about is how requests are responded to. It’s primarily used on servers where clients must be able to access, create or manipulate data.
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