What is an API?

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface. It is a software interface that allows two applications to interact with each other without any user intervention.

APIs provides product or service to communicate with other products and services without having to know how they're implemented.

In this API vs. Spider web Services tutorial, you lot will learn:

  • What is an API?
  • What is a Web Service?
  • Features of Web API
  • Features of Web Services
  • API vs. Web Service
  • Advantages of API Services
  • Advantages of Web Services
  • Disadvantages of API
  • Disadvantages of Web Services

What is a Web Service?

A Web service is a collection of open up protocols and standards which are widely used for exchanging information between systems or applications.

Software applications are written using diverse programming languages and running on multiple platforms. It allows yous to use web services to commutation data over computer networks.

Key DIFFERENCE

  • Web service is a collection of open source protocols and standards used for exchanging data betwixt systems or applications whereas API is a software interface that allows two applications to interact with each other without whatever user interest.
  • Web service is used for REST, SOAP and XML-RPC for communication while API is used for any style of communication.
  • Web service supports but HTTP protocol whereas API supports HTTP/HTTPS protocol.
  • Web service supports XML while API supports XML and JSON.
  • All Web services are APIs but all APIs are non web services.

Types of Web Services

Web services should be implemented in diverse ways. The 2 types of widely used web services are Soap and RESTful web services.

SOAP – SOAP is a protocol which was designed before Residual came into the picture. The main idea backside creating SOAP was to ensure that programs congenital on different platforms and programming languages could deeply exchange data.

REST – This was designed specifically for working with components such as media components, files, or even objects on a detail hardware device. Any web service which is divers on the principles of Residual can be called a RESTful web service. Residue uses the normal HTTP verbs of GET, Postal service, PUT and DELETE for working with the required components.

Features of Web API

Hither are some essential features of API:

  • Efficiency
  • Wider reach
  • Customizable
  • Personalization
  • Information ownership
  • Easy integration with GUI
  • Time effective
  • Language-independent

Features of Web Services

Here are some essential features of spider web services:

  • Loosely coupled
  • Synchronous or asynchronous functionality
  • Ability to support remote procedure calls
  • Supports document exchange

Difference between API and Spider web Services

Here are of import differences between Web services and API.

Web Serviced API
All web services are APIs. All APIs are not web services.
It supports XML. Responses are formatted using Web API's MediaTypeFormatter into XML, JSON, or any other given format.
Y'all need a SOAP protocol to send or receive and data over the network. Therefore it does not have light-weight architecture. API has a light-weight architecture.
It tin can be used past whatever client who understands XML. It tin can be used by a client who understands JSON or XML.
Spider web service uses three styles: Remainder, Soap, and XML-RPC for communication. API can be used for whatsoever fashion of communication.
Information technology provides supports only for the HTTP protocol. It provides support for the HTTP/s protocol: URL Request/Response Headers, etc.

Advantages of API Services

Here are pros/benefits of using API:

  • API supports traditional CRUD (Create Read Update Delete) actions as information technology works with HTTP verbs Go, PUT, POST, and DELETE.
  • API helps you to expose service data to the browser
  • It is based on HTTP, which is piece of cake to define, betrayal in Residuum-total way.

Advantages of Web Services

Here are the important pros/benefits of using web services:

  • Offers faster communications within and across organizations
  • Each service exists independently of other services.
  • Interoperability has the highest priority.
  • Using Web services, your application helps you to publish its message or function to the residue of the globe.
  • Spider web services aid solve interoperability issues by giving unlike applications a way to link their data.
  • Spider web services help yous to commutation information between dissimilar applications and unlike platforms.
  • It allows applications to communicate, exchange data, and shared services amid themselves.
  • Web services are specifically designed to be used as a spider web page request and aid you to receive data.
  • It serves as building blocks which makes it easy to reuse web service components in other services. Web Services are deployed on cyberspace standards such as standard Apache, and Axis2. Information technology provides WSDL, HTTP, driven services.

Disadvantages of API

Here are important drawbacks/cons of using API services:

  • Creating API is a very time-consuming process
  • A stock-still calibration is necessary
  • Imprecise boundary delineation
  • To create API, programming knowledge is necessary
  • Maintenance price is very high
  • It can crash when testing API

Disadvantages of Spider web Services

Drawbacks/cons of using Web services:

  • It does non access from browser
  • Not leverage emerging Web developments (Semantic Web, AJAX XMLHttpRequest, etc.)
  • Some web services are unproblematic to use, simply there are some flaws of using it.
  • Any time one creates a service to handle a variety of customers, at that place is a demand for specialized automobile requirements.
  • The HTTP protocol is not reliable, and so information technology does non offering any guarantee of commitment of the response.