
What Does API Mean? - corentin88
https://blog.bearer.sh/what-is-an-api/
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pdkl95
An API is a _promise_.

The difference between an ordinary shared library, OS feature, or RESTful
service and advertising the same code as an API is fundamentally a promise. If
you usr my library by calling functions foo() and bar() as described in my API
documentation, I promise your program should continue to work with future
versions of my library that support the same API.

The technical specifics of any API are important, but the promise is what
matters. Without that promise, using a "RESTful API" is just screen scraping;
it might work today, but it could break unexpectedly anytime in the future.

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skibz
Strangely, in my personal experience, I've found that when somebody says "API"
what they really mean is an HTTP API of some kind.

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qubex
Application Programming Interface
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interf...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface?wprov=sfti1))

That’s pretty much the first Google hit.

