Application Programming Interface

The term application programming interface (API) comes from computer programming. It is an interface between software and an external application or service to enable the exchange of information between them in a simplified way. The API is a set of protocols that the company providing the data defines and regulates so others can properly use its data or service. This entry discusses how APIs are used, the kinds of services they enable, and concerns that arise from the use of APIs for data mining on social networks.

The availability of APIs has enabled the enrichment of the user experiences online, on mobile apps, and elsewhere on digital devices. Let us consider a simple example: A small bakery wants to embed a searchable map to its shop on its website. An API from the map services company would allow the bakery owner to include this feature on the bakery’s webpage by pasting a few lines of code, not unlike the editing of regular text, rather than having to program the map and the route-finding engine from scratch. Other examples of how APIs are used for online services include a climate information company offering forecast data tailored to a user’s location to be displayed on webpages or smartphones and news outlets’ websites that ask users entering their Facebook credentials to comment on articles. In the last example, the website visitor uses his or her Facebook credentials without leaving the space of discussion. The news outlet does not need to store the user’s credentials and can rely on Facebook’s authentication system.

For the company that provides the API, the main advantage of using an API is that it allows the company to offer an information service or another kind of digital processing while exposing only selected parts of its programming code, thus reducing exposure to hackers, malware, viruses, or other cyber threats. For the software developers, APIs streamline part of the programming process, delivering the desired results without the need for the developer to write and maintain specific code for every process needed to provide a particular service.

Typically, there is a documentation of who wants to promote access via an API detailing all the protocols, parameters, and programming languages to enable communication between the two parties. This concept is essential to understand how some companies operate. The business model of the product in question helps a company determine which information it can make public for third parties to use. The API turns the company that offers data into a service provider, expanding its market and controlling how others take its data or operate with them.

APIs are, as such, part of a networked culture where the goods, services, and exchanges of information are interconnected and tend to the interests of both the individuals and the businesses involved. In the examples given earlier, the baker gets the map service for free, and the map provider collects data on who is interested in visiting that business and neighborhood. The forecasting information helps people be more prepared for the day, and the weather company can sell ads targeted to customers in a particular region or climate, while gathering data about where people use its service so it can improve the quality of its bases and sensors.

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