API For Beginners - Terminology You Should Know

By Ashley Ogilvie, IT Glue

So you want to reap the benefits of automation, but don’t have the expertise to leverage an API. We’re here to tell you that it’s easier than you think.

The best explanation I received of an API is that it allows two technologies to talk to one another. Looking at it that way, these technologies must have their own language, their own way of communicating with one another in order to achieve certain ends. So to equip you with the tools you need to start leveraging APIs and automation, you first need to get a sense for this language.

With the help of our Product Owner, Hanson Do, and one of our Sales Engineers, Travis Brittain, we put together some of the most common terms you will encounter when using the IT Glue API. Let’s take a look.

REST API

REST refers to an architectural style. If you’ve been to Europe recently, you can’t miss various buildings characterized by Gothic architecture or Renaissance architecture. In this case, rather than designing buildings, we’re talking about laying the groundwork for an API to communicate, and REST is simply the style being used. In slightly more technical terms, this allows for interoperability between different types of applications and devices on the internet.