If your business maintains a website or other internet presence and you worked with a professional web design company, then you may have heard of website API integration. But it was probably one of a hundred technical terms thrown at you that you didn’t bother to understand. You probably just nodded your head and said, ‘Yes, I need that.’ If you did, good for you because you do need it. To find out why, here are some things you need to know about API:
APIs Are Windows To Program Code
APIs are application programming interfaces and they are essentially sets of programming instructions and requirements that govern how one application can communicate with another. For example, if you’re using Google Shopping and you find a product you like that’s available from Amazon, the current Amazon price is displayed along with a ‘Buy’ button. APIs make this interface between Google and Amazon possible. They do it by “exposing” some of a program’s internal functions to the outside world – in a limited way – to make it possible for applications or programs to share data and take actions on one another’s behalf without exposing all of a program’s code. APIs work like windows that allow outside programs to have a peek into the inner workings of a program and that grant access to a limited set of features.
APIs Work To Make Business Run Smoothly
The features that are exposed by APIs do just enough for the businesses that share them to allow for seamless, time-saving interactions. They can also offer more convenience to the internet user who can, for example, sign in to a number of different apps and websites using their Facebook ID and password or hit any number of application icon buttons to share something they’re reading or watching with their friends. As a business owner using website API integration, your customers can share what they see on your website with social media interfaces as well. It also allows customers to purchase directly from your website through an interface with a payment processing site like PayPal and allows you to show your customers how to find you with a Google Maps interface that shows your location on a map on your website. There are almost an endless number of ways that APIs can benefit your business.
To find out more about website API integration, call us at CedarWaters at (469) 535-7500. At CedarWaters, we are custom software developers with many years of experience in integrating different API systems on the internet. Visit us online at axissoftwaredynamics.com to find out more about what we can do for your business.
