We have web services that relay data back and forth wrapped up with the metadata only just as much as needed.
That sounds fair enough!
What are these APIs?
Aren't these the documentation (manuals) for how to use any system? A system can be a database system or a bank account management system or an ERP system.
10 points to Griffindor for bravery and mainly compassion for saving us from the perils of defining the API!
Absolutely! The Shopping APIs or the Search APIs you see at Google or eBay are simply the Web Service APIs, shortly Web APIs.
Let's walk through the evolution of Web APIs.
The advent of XML eventually led to a nice protocol called SOAP. SOAP facilitated data access by wrapping data into understandable objects which are represented in an intuitive mail-like structure (imagine head, body and attachments) with a clearly defined metadata - schema.
Around 2000 and over a decade later, Web API world is taken by a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) storm. This perspective of designing web/system architecture resulted in many advancements (Note: I'm using the term web with caution because its pervasive expansion to different devices resulted in broadening its own definition )
Here's some more reference information on this.
Enterprise integration imbibed elements from SOA standards. WS-I OASIS and metro stack operationalized some standards defined and advocated by SOA working groups. The gamut of services and the complexity in defining an overarching integration framework resulted in exploring simpler components for integration. SOA (though it sustains) needed to uncomplicate.
A RESTful Architecture fills-in some of the short-comings of SOA.
Continued in the next part...
(Please let me know your feedback in the comments.)
That sounds fair enough!
What are these APIs?
Aren't these the documentation (manuals) for how to use any system? A system can be a database system or a bank account management system or an ERP system.
10 points to Griffindor for bravery and mainly compassion for saving us from the perils of defining the API!
Absolutely! The Shopping APIs or the Search APIs you see at Google or eBay are simply the Web Service APIs, shortly Web APIs.
Let's walk through the evolution of Web APIs.
The advent of XML eventually led to a nice protocol called SOAP. SOAP facilitated data access by wrapping data into understandable objects which are represented in an intuitive mail-like structure (imagine head, body and attachments) with a clearly defined metadata - schema.
Around 2000 and over a decade later, Web API world is taken by a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) storm. This perspective of designing web/system architecture resulted in many advancements (Note: I'm using the term web with caution because its pervasive expansion to different devices resulted in broadening its own definition )
- separation of concerns through layering/composing services at different granularity,
- security layering through OAuth and other mechanisms,
- service discovery through a registry (UDDI)
- service definition and publishing standards (WSDL) in enterprise integration
Here's some more reference information on this.
Enterprise integration imbibed elements from SOA standards. WS-I OASIS and metro stack operationalized some standards defined and advocated by SOA working groups. The gamut of services and the complexity in defining an overarching integration framework resulted in exploring simpler components for integration. SOA (though it sustains) needed to uncomplicate.
A RESTful Architecture fills-in some of the short-comings of SOA.
Continued in the next part...
(Please let me know your feedback in the comments.)
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