API Explainer: The Martech Glossary
A set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate and exchange data. APIs are crucial for integrating various
MarTech
tools.
The term "Application Programming Interface" (API) has a history that goes back to the early days of computing, but its meaning and application have evolved significantly over time.
While the concept of a standardised way for software components to interact existed earlier, the term "Application Program Interface" first appeared in a 1968 paper titled "Data structures and techniques for remote computer graphics". The authors used it to describe how an application (in this case, a graphics program) interacted with the rest of the computer system. The goal was to create a consistent interface that would free programmers from the specific details of the hardware and allow for hardware independence.
The idea of APIs was further developed and applied in different contexts over the following decades:
In 1974, the term "application programming interface" was introduced to the field of databases, becoming a part of the ANSI/SPARC framework for database management systems.
As computer networks became common in the 1970s and 80s, the concept of APIs expanded to include remote procedure calls, allowing programs on different computers to communicate.
With the rise of the internet in the 1990s, the focus shifted to APIs that enabled applications to exchange data over the web. This led to the development of standards like SOAP and, later, the more popular and flexible RESTful APIs.
At present, the most common meaning of "API" is a web API, which allows two different software systems to communicate over the internet using requests and responses. The origin of the word is rooted in the early need for a "program interface" that defined the "application's" interaction with the rest of the system.
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Application Programming Interface (API): A set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate and exchange data. APIs are crucial for integrating various MarTech tools. The term "Application Programming Interface" (API) has a history that goes back to the early days of computing, but its meaning and application have evolved significantly over time. While the concept of a standardised way for software components to interact existed earlier, the term "Application Program Interface" first appeared in a 1968 paper titled "Data structures and techniques for remote computer graphics". The authors used it to describe how an application (in this case, a graphics program) interacted with the rest of the computer system. The goal was to create a consistent interface that would free programmers from the specific details of the hardware and allow for hardware independence. The idea of APIs was further developed and applied in different contexts over the following decades: In 1974, the term "application programming interface" was introduced to the field of databases, becoming a part of the ANSI/SPARC framework for database management systems. As computer networks became common in the 1970s and 80s, the concept of APIs expanded to include remote procedure calls, allowing programs on different computers to communicate. With the rise of the internet in the 1990s, the focus shifted to APIs that enabled applications to exchange data over the web. This led to the development of standards like SOAP and, later, the more popular and flexible RESTful APIs. At present, the most common meaning of "API" is a web API, which allows two different software systems to communicate over the internet using requests and responses. The origin of the word is rooted in the early need for a "program interface" that defined the "application's" interaction with the rest of the system.
