I’m not in the IT sector but I’m beginning to understand the logic behind sending requests and receiving responses for various reasons. What was used before APIs became the standard for communication between systems?
Edit: I understand now that I’ve been in fact asking about REST API.
In: Technology
A REST API is basically a setup where one system is waiting for a call from another system using standard, readily available communications. Imagine you have a banking system, and someone needs to transfer money. You set up a phone line (endpoint) with a person there whose job is to take the order and make the transfer for you.
Before there were all of these parallel systems, systems were built to exchange files “Here are all of the transfers I need you to process. Deal with it in your own time. Maybe give me another file later to tell me all of the transfers you processed.”
Another way was to load a bit of another system’s code and just do the work yourself. This is basically a DLL, or a dynamic link library. “Just give me instructions that I can understand (I.e., compiled code), and I’ll do it.”
A final way would be that both systems share data and agree how to access it. This is a client-server model. There’s a server out there with a database on it. Everyone has their own permissions to read and/or modify the shared data as necessary. “Here are the keys. Just open the safe and do what you need to do. Promise not to mess up.”
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