APIs in mobile and web applications
API stands for Application Program Interface. These are technologies that allow two or more programs or applications to communicate with each other by sharing data. Therefore an application’s API lays out or defines how other applications will access its data. APIs are analogous to waitresses who enable us to interact with the restaurant’s kitchen. They take our orders and communicate that with the kitchen staff who then prepare the meal and the waiter comes back with it. Without the waiters, the whole process of getting a meal at a restaurant would be tedious and messy. In the same way, APIs streamline the process of other applications fetching and utilizing data from other programs.
Without APIs, it would require application developers to write several lines of code every time their application wanted to access another application’s data. This would mean that the developer has to know the coding language of the other application and they have to have access to that application’s code. For a highly sort program, it would mean several lines of code by multiple developers would be written to do the same thing and this would be highly redundant. It’s like having a restaurant without waitresses and requiring that every client who needs a meal to go and prepare one for themselves. It would be chaotic.
APIs therefore enable programs to communicate easily and eliminate the need for redundant code for the same task. Integrating an API for another program extends the capabilities of your application as it can utilize data from the other program and synchronizing it with its own for more capabilities.
At [TrendPro Systems Ltd](https://trendpro.co.ke) we integrate APIs to your application be it custom APIs or open source. We have integrated quite a number of APIs for our clients like the Mpesa API that enable your application users to make payments for your goods and services via your application and you are able to receive the payments in real time. This API makes your application an e-commerce platform extending its capabilities and opening up growth opportunities for your business.