How much does it cost to develop an API in 2023? Typesof API and how to build APIs? Whether you are developing software for your business or working in the tech industry, you might have heard the term ‘APIs’ a million times.
According to the report shared by Straits Research, the global market size of APIs will grow at a CAGR of 23.8% and reach $13.21 billion by 2030.
Even if you don’t recognize and realize it, the digital world has APIs everywhere. Pay with Paypal, Twitter Bots, eCommerce, Google Maps, Weather Snippets, or Login Authentication through Google/Facebook/Twitter are some real-life API examples to understand how our world is becoming API-centric with each passing day.
But do you know what APIs are and how you create one? This blog will cover everything about APIs and their development.
So fasten your belt as we are about to jump into the world of APIs.
What is an API?
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) refer to the set of instructions, protocols, and tools that helps in integrating features/services in an application. APIs allow web services to communicate and use the data and functionality of others using a documented interface.
In simple terms, API is a software interface that allows communication between two applications. APIs are similar to messengers that send a user’s request to the relevant service and return with the required response.
Read: Principles of Web API Design
What makes an API so popular among developers is they can use the interface to add a service, feature, or tool in their application without knowing how that API is implemented. Also, it eliminates the need to create a similar feature from scratch when you can easily use the existing one.
Read: Top 10 Software Development Trends
For example, hitting the “Sign Up with Google/Facebook/Apple” button on Grammarly, automatically accesses your primary data from the account and lets you use it instantly - thanks to API.
Read: Best Practices for API Security
APIs can be divided into the following types
-
Open/Public API
-
Partner API
-
Private API
-
Composite API
Open/Public API
These are the external APIs that are published on the internet and are free to access by developers, such as SendGrid and GitHub.
Partner API
It refers to a more limited API when it comes to accessing the service. Partner APIs can be free or paid and are only available for certain users. eBay API, Amazon API, and Airbnb API are three popular examples of Partner API.
Private API
The internal/private APIs are used to accomplish tasks within a business network. These APIs come with some restrictions and are only accessible by authorized users.
Composite API
It combines different APIs into one call and boosts the execution speed and performance of the web interfaces.
If you want to know more, check our previous blog on APIs and How they work.
Terminologies to Remember While API Development
Before moving on to how to build an API, let’s look at some of the most common terminologies used while working with them.
-
JSON: JavaScript Object Notation or JSON is a lightweight, open standard data and file interchange format. It stores data temporarily and uses human-readable text to transfer data objects.
-
GET: It is an HTTP request method that is used to retrieve data from a server.
-
POST: It is an HTTP request method that sends requested data to the API server for building resources.
-
OAuth: Open Authorization (OAuth) is the authorization protocol for APIs that renders access to the users without asking them for login credentials.
-
API Key: It is a unique identifier code used to authenticate and recognize the requester.
-
Endpoint: It is the point where an API and software program connects to communicate and transfer information.
-
REST: RESTful APIs acronym for Representational State Transfer defines the constraints for creating web services and makes the communication between two web services simple and flexible.
-
SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) refers to a messaging network protocol used for sharing structured information between nodes using XML format and works on top of the HTML and SMTP layer of the application.
-
API Throttling: It limits the number of API requests a user can make in a given time.
-
Latency: Latency is the term used to describe the amount of time taken by an API interface to respond to a user request.
Top 5 API Development Tools
Here we have listed the top 5 API development tools that you can go for.
-
Postman
-
Swagger
-
AuthO
-
Apigee
-
Sandbox
Postman: It is a standalone API development tool that allows you to build, design, test, modify, document, and evaluate API performance in one place.
Swagger: It is an open-source, API development tool suite designed by SmartBear Software. Swagger helps developers to build, test, document, and consume REST APIs and can be either used as a bottom-up or top-down development approach.
AuthO: It is used by developers to integrate authorization and authentication APIs.
Apigee: It is an API management software by Google that provides security, analytics, rate limiting, etc. for the API. Apigee provides an abstraction for backend service APIs and also helps in API development and management.
Sandbox: It is a feature used to imitate the production environment to test APIs.
You will come across various tools for API development but choosing the ideal one can be quite difficult.
API Development: 6 Steps of Building an API?
While the method to build an API differs depending on the tool you are using, we will share basic steps to create an API in a popular tool like Postman.
Step 1: Import an existing API or start a new API in Postman.
Step 2: If you want to import an existing API, connect to a Git repository and import API collections and definitions into Postman.
Step 3: If you are creating a new one, create an API definition and collection. You can also generate server-side code using OpenAPI specification and then move on to validating and linking elements and API definition.
Remember you can also import an existing definition from a code repository, file, folder, or API gateway.
Step 4: Once you have created the API, add tests by using CI integrations that will build and automate testing.
Step 5: After testing the API, connect the deployment service for better visibility.
Step 6: Observe the API you created by adding monitoring tools.
Read: How To Create Backend APIs Using Spring Boot
Thereafter, you can easily share, view, and manage changes made in the API by other team members; set up a mock server to test API endpoints for development purposes; and use reports of API performance for further improvements.
How Much Does It Cost to Develop an API in 2023?
API development cost in 2023 can be from $1000 to $35,000 depending on the complexity, security, features, and documentation. Also, if you want to create a fully-featured and secured API, it is advisable to hire experienced API developers working with a trustworthy software development company like Decipher Zone Technologies.
FAQs about API Development
What are the 4 types of API?
Open/Public API, Private API, Partner API, and Composite API are the four types of application programming interfaces that you will come across.
What is an API example?
Every time you see Pay with PayPal, log in with Google/Facebook, and Weather Snippets, you are unknowingly using APIs.
Which language is used for API Development?
Java, Python, and C# are some of the most popular languages that can be used for API.