![]() Date in a 1974 paper called The Relational and Network Approaches: Comparison of the Application Programming Interface. The term was introduced to the field of databases by C. A consistent application interface (consisting of Fortran subroutine calls) was intended to free the programmer from dealing with idiosyncrasies of the graphics display device, and to provide hardware independence if the computer or the display were replaced. The authors of this paper use the term to describe the interaction of an application-a graphics program in this case-with the rest of the computer system. The term "application program interface" (without an -ing suffix) is first recorded in a paper called Data structures and techniques for remote computer graphics presented at an AFIPS conference in 1968. ![]() Īlthough the people who coined the term API were implementing software on a Univac 1108, the goal of their API was to make hardware independent programs possible. Joshua Bloch considers that Wilkes and Wheeler "latently invented" the API because it is more of a concept that is discovered than invented. Wilkes and Wheeler's 1951 book The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer contains the first published API specification. Today, such a catalog would be called an API (or an API specification or API documentation) because it instructs a programmer on how to use (or "call") each subroutine that the programmer needs. This cabinet also contained what Wilkes and Wheeler called a "library catalog" of notes about each subroutine and how to incorporate it into a program. The subroutines in this library were stored on punched paper tape organized in a filing cabinet. British computer scientists Maurice Wilkes and David Wheeler worked on a modular software library in the 1940s for EDSAC, an early computer. The idea of the API is much older than the term itself. This origin is still reflected in the name "application programming interface." Today, the term is broader, including also utility software and even hardware interfaces. The term API initially described an interface only for end-user-facing programs, known as application programs. History of the term Ī diagram from 1978 proposing the expansion of the idea of the API to become a general programming interface, beyond application programs alone While a graphical interface for an email client might provide a user with a button that performs all the steps for fetching and highlighting new emails, an API for file input/output might give the developer a function that copies a file from one location to another without requiring that the developer understand the file system operations occurring behind the scenes. In building applications, an API simplifies programming by abstracting the underlying implementation and only exposing objects or actions the developer needs. Recent developments in APIs have led to the rise in popularity of microservices, which are loosely coupled services accessed through public APIs. APIs originated in the 1940s, though the term did not emerge until the 1960s and 1970s.Ĭontemporary usage of the term API often refers to web APIs, which allow communication between computers that are joined by the internet. There are APIs for programming languages, software libraries, computer operating systems, and computer hardware. An API may be custom-built for a particular pair of systems, or it may be a shared standard allowing interoperability among many systems. One purpose of APIs is to hide the internal details of how a system works, exposing only those parts a programmer will find useful and keeping them consistent even if the internal details later change. An API specification defines these calls, meaning that it explains how to use or implement them. The calls that make up the API are also known as subroutines, methods, requests, or endpoints. A program or a programmer that uses one of these parts is said to call that portion of the API. An API is often made up of different parts which act as tools or services that are available to the programmer. ![]() ![]() It is not intended to be used directly by a person (the end user) other than a computer programmer who is incorporating it into the software. In contrast to a user interface, which connects a computer to a person, an application programming interface connects computers or pieces of software to each other. The term API may refer either to the specification or to the implementation. A computer system that meets this standard is said to implement or expose an API. ![]() A document or standard that describes how to build or use such a connection or interface is called an API specification. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. Screenshot of web API documentation written by NASAĪn application programming interface ( API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. ![]()
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