API in plain english is that interface between you/your application and any other application that is not associated with your own application. It is hugely used by desktop/mobile applications to connect to web applications so that they can access the information on the web application.
It controls data access between applications and helps in connecting applications together.
Hope that helps.
jplatt39
2012-07-19 09:58:11 UTC
An API or Application Programming Interface is a specification for how to write programs for a specific platform, as in Windows API or IOS API. It tells the programmer what functions he or she can call to get their program to do what he or she wants them to efficiently and with a minimum of fuss.
?
2012-07-19 10:30:35 UTC
API isn't a single thing, there are thousands of different APIs.
An API is an Application Programming Interface. It's a set of libraries that a programmer can use to interface to another program.
e.g. there is a MS windows API which allows a program you write to tell the operating system to open a new window or to ask the operating system where the mouse is.
2012-07-19 10:03:27 UTC
API stands for Application Programming Interface. In programming when you build a program that will host other programs or will be extendible by other programs we call it a 'platform'. The biggest examples of programming platforms are Operating Systems but not all platforms are operating systems. Steam is a Gaming Platform and is built in C++ it runs on a number of Operating Systems. Java is a programming platform and it runs on dozens of Operating Systems these are just a few examples.
To make your platform extendible or usable by a programming language we create library classes and interfaces that provide functions that are common to the platform, provide utilities for developers, and provide details of connectivity - parts of the platform programs can connect and interact with. Collectively these are known as the API, the environment of the platform and the interface for programs and programmers. The Java API is a very well documented example. You can browse the API documentation at oracle.com [1] there you will see a database of articles each one relating to each of the classes that comprise the platform, details of their function, instructions on how to connect to them, import them, use them and extend them in the creation of your programs.
?
2012-07-19 11:40:34 UTC
API. It is an interface between you and your program between things like operating systems, other software, and specialized hardware add-ons (Direct3D is a notorious API for interfacing between graphics hardware and the Windows operating system and ultimately your application, and the fact that it is used by douches). An API will usually have functions and other things you will need to incorporate into your source code to use.
2012-07-19 09:49:42 UTC
memory is foggy but I think that is a file extension
other than that its basically how you make two softwares communicate with each other
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