Programmers use several tool-set to create software. One of which is an API (Application Programming Interface). APIs specify the interaction between software components.

In order to further explain the concept of an API, you need to have a better understanding of the basics. I'll use a restaurant menu at an analogy. When you go to eat in a restaurant, you are required to choose from a list of menu. After your selection, the waiter then takes your order to the chef. At this point, your meal is being prepared and brought to you for a nice meal. You may now ask yourself; do you know what was used to prepare your meal? Do you know how it was prepared? This analogy is simply the starting point of our explanation.

From the analogy, you really do not know what was going on while the chef was preparing your meal. All you just did was to place an order, and in a few minutes, your food was served. This is simply where am API comes into play.

An example in the real world is purchasing a movie ticket online. You open the webpage of the movie, then you put in details like the movie, your name, and the information on your credit card. Within minutes your movie ticket is printed out. API is simply what was going on between putting in your details and printing your ticket.

What was happening is that different software interacted with each other. This process is seamless.

Types of APIs

You might think there's only one type of API. But Application program interface is of four major types and they are detailed below.

Open APIs

Open APIs are also known as Public APIs. They are designed with minimum restrictions and are generally available to users such as developers. They can be completely open or require API keys or OAuth. Open APIs also focus on offering services or data to external users.

Partner APIs

Partner APIs are APIs that are made available to strategic business partners. Unlike Public APIs, they are not publicly available. To get access to partner API, specific entitlement is needed.

Partner APIs are the most visible among the types of APIs. They are used to communicate within and without the company. They are also exposed to developer portals of Public APIs. When this happens, the developer can now access the partner API in self-service mode. Partner APIs can also be accessed through processes that require specific validation from Open APIs.

Internal APIs

Internal APIs are also known as private APIs. They are only made available by internal systems and hidden from the public. The most interesting part of an internal API is its usage within the boundaries of a company alone. Internal APIs' major use is to improve productivity and services reuse within several internal development teams.

Internal APIs are exposed to developer portals. This exposure allows users to access the API through internal IAM systems.

Composite APIs

Composite APIs are responsible for combining service APIs and multiple data. With the use of composite APIs, developers can easily access several endpoints in a call.

Composite APIs are created using an API creation tool. They are also useful in several areas. One of which is the micro-services architecture pattern. This pattern uses information from different services to carry out a single task.

Service and Data APIs

Service and data APIs are simply another methods to categorize APIs. Data are responsible for the provision of CRUD access to data sets. These data sets are used for SaaS cloud providers and several databases.

API Management

APIs make available a company's data. They also make available enterprise assets through applications. APIs provide a digital layer to employees, customers, and partner interactions in an organization.

As a result of this, API management has become of great importance. This is so because organizations and developers can now scale, secure, monetize, and govern API programs. Listed below are the vital elements of API management.

API security

API security is one of the vital elements when it comes to API management. This element is very important as it is used to protect APIs against threats and unauthorized access. Aside from the authentication and authorization process, API security requires firm policies and standards. This helps in the protection of sensitive data.

API Governance

API governance is another element of API management. It ensures that a consistent experience is created for end-users of an API.

API governance also involves API documentation, lifecycle management, reusability, and discoverability. It also ensures that APIs are built to fulfill their specified goal.

API Analytics

API analytics focuses on the analysis and collection of API metrics. It also allows organizations and developers to understand the usage and rank of their API.

API analytics is also of great benefit to business teams, IT Operations, and Developers.

APIs Monetization

One of the vital elements of API management is monetization. API monetization simply refers to the generation of revenue through monetizing APIs. To achieve this, plans and packages are created.

There are two ways to get access to API management software. It can either be created or purchased through a third-party provider. An example of a third-party provider is Stratus Meridian.

API Management Platform

This platform behaves as a proxy that accommodates API requests. It also protects the back-end services from crashing due to too many breaches and queries.

API management platforms include a developer portal. This portal provides a way for developers to distribute and acquire APIs needed for building an application.

Examples of API Management Platform

There are several platforms available for API management. These platforms vary in terms of the services they provide. This service ranges from small business to big enterprises. Companies like IBM, Red Hat, Mulesoft, and Apigee have built their individual offerings for API management. Companies like Stratus Meridian built software and accelerators for API management platforms. Below is the list of popular API management platforms.

• Apigee Edge.

• Mulesoft API platform.

• IBM Datapower