The article provides a concise and accessible explanation of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), comparing them to drive-thru windows for code. It emphasizes that APIs are fundamental to modern software development, serving as a set of logic that takes specific inputs and produces predictable outputs. The technical definition highlights that APIs are designed to perform specific tasks when given particular inputs, showcasing examples like the Google Maps API translating addresses to coordinates or the JavaScript Array.Sort API sorting numbers. The article clarifies the separation between the technical definition and how people commonly use the term in conversation.

In practice, the article identifies three contexts in which the term “API” is often used: internal company APIs, public APIs, and code interfaces. Internal company APIs are the backbone of applications, orchestrating various tasks triggered by user actions. Public APIs, exemplified by Twitter’s API, are selectively made available for external developers to integrate functionalities into their apps. The article also mentions code interfaces, such as JavaScript’s array.sort() method, which represents lower-level inputs and outputs in coding. Overall, the article demystifies APIs, highlighting their critical role in modern software and elucidating the diverse contexts in which the term is employed in the software development landscape.