APIs are getting attention from the mainstream media now more than ever, and knowing the work behind them is kind of necessary.
APIs, or Application Program Interfaces, are tools that control interaction between different software programs. It’s how developers engage with your company’s system.
Everybody is familiar what User Interface is, and API means the same, but in this case is an interface of software. So API is used by software applications pretty much in the same way as interfaces for apps are used by users. Software uses the APIs to access whatever it needs, if it needs data, server software or any other application.
An analogy of this is comparing the APIs with doorways. The building is a program, and the APIs are the way to have access to that specific building. In other words, APIs are the doorway that a program can enter through to have access in another program. This happens without having to read and share all the architecture of the code, because who has the time scrolling to another’s code for apps, and to be honest a lot of them are messy for just a single function.
The technical explanation of APIs contains a group of protocols, routines and tools that build software apps that specify how different items of a program will interact and request to another programs' functions.
To understand this we can compare it with a pizza. You’ll go to a restaurant, pick up the menu, choose a pizza with the ingredients you want, the waiter takes your order to the kitchen and returns with your favorite pizza.
If the kitchen is the program you want access on, and your way to the kitchen( program), is by APIs, and in this case is the menu with your specific order. The waiter here compares with the process that delivers your request and returns with the product.
APIs Importance
* APIs are vital for any business industries. Communication between two different programs enables companies to grow faster, and when they’re looking to build app design in Dubai, they want an agency that knows APIs and have potential to create products that stand out from other competitors.
* APIs are especially important because they make monetization easier. When your app is present in more than one platform, companies can sell a lot more ad space. They also allow companies expand their products into markets they’ve never thought they would be part of it.
* Using APIs allows app development companies in Dubai to improve too their clients services at a low cost, but at the same time results in apps that provide richer experience for the clients.
* Since APIs expand companies businesses, this way they improve already existed products or services, and generate more revenues for them. That’s why this year APIs are a big trend, specially in e-commerce: when a product or a process begins in a device and finishes in another one.
API development practices
To have a huge success in an app agency in Dubai that specializes in APIs, is crucial to absorb some of the practices below:
* Build expectations: When you work with a developer, it’s very important to let them know what you expect from them, when the product will be delivered, and what’s going to be solved by functionality of APIs.
* Case Study: The improvements that APIs give, can create perfect case studies, by starting with a problem, creating a solution and finish by a result which can be a service or a product.
* Third party uses: A lot of app development companies in Dubai start by creating mobile applications, then they create an API for a third party as a side project. The only downside here is that this API is not properly build or tested during the app design and development.
Wrapping things up
This illustration of what are APIs, and why they’re so hyped and valued, can be very helpful for people who work with big data. Building APIs is not an easy thing to do and the biggest challenge of them is creating an API that will stand out.
You have to understand first why you’re creating one, then finding which type fits your app’s needs. After all this it comes time to design and develop to make an API last for a long time, and making sure it’s being used.
And as said earlier, APIs are a big trend this year, and it’s kind of impossible to compete with other digital marketing in Dubai, because of the big number of agencies you cannot afford to have a weak spot in APIs connections.
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