Imagine you want to ask your friend for a cookie.
You could just say, "Hey, can I have a cookie?" But if you want to be more specific, you could say, "Hey, can I have a chocolate chip cookie?"
API styles are like that.
They're a way of asking for information from a computer. But instead of saying "Hey, can I have a chocolate chip cookie?", you say "GET /cookies/chocolate-chip".
An API style is like a secret handshake 🤝 between two computers, helping them share and understand each other's messages.
There are different styles of handshakes, and each has its own way of sending and receiving information! 🌟🗣️
I've simplified and decoded the secrets of 6 most important API styles for you, so you can save time and focus on what matters most! 🚀🎯
𝗦𝗢𝗔𝗣:
• A protocol using XML-based messages for communication
• Requires strict adherence to predefined contracts
• Operates primarily over HTTP or HTTPS
• Commonly used in enterprise environments
𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗣𝗜:
• An architectural style focused on resources and statelessness
• Employs standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
• Easier to implement and understand compared to SOAP
• Can work with various data formats, but JSON is most common
𝗴𝗥𝗣𝗖:
• Focuses on remote procedure calls (RPCs) between services
• Uses HTTP/2 for transport and Protocol Buffers for serialization
• Ideal for microservices, where low latency and high efficiency are crucial
• Automatically generates client and server code for multiple languages
𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗤𝗟:
• A query language and runtime for APIs
• Allows clients to request specific data, reducing over-fetching
• Can combine multiple data sources in a single request
• Developed and open-sourced by Facebook
𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁:
• A bidirectional, real-time communication protocol
• Maintains a single, long-lived connection over TCP
• Suitable for web applications requiring live updates
• Not tied to any specific serialization format
𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸:
• A server-side, event-driven mechanism
• Sends HTTP callbacks (usually POST requests) to specified URLs
• Triggered by specific events or actions within an application
• Useful for integrating third-party services or updating data in real time