Welcome to the discussion about this lecture. Here you can ask questions or post feedback about this specific lecture.
1 Like
Hi everyone,
The one thing I’m having trouble understanding is whether, for example, Facebook WANTS Twitter to be able to obtain a user’s Facebook friends?
Is it that Twitter (or Snapchat, or what ever social media company you can think of) is taking advantage of Facebook’s APIs to query information for their own interests?
Or do websites like Facebook purposely develop their server APIs so that other servers, like Twitter’s, can obtain that information?
Thanks for clarifying!
~Josh
It’s intentional. facebook could easily put controls on the API so that only registered partners could access them. But I get the sense that the more sites that rely on facebooks API services, the more important facebook becomes. So I’m guessing facebook encourages the usage of it’s APIs. Otherwise, they would make them private and require their partners to go through some kind of registration process.
In another simpler example, there are tons and tons of public APIs. I build a google sheet and it gathers the price information for various crypto currencies. I use this free service:
https://api.coinmarketcap.com/v1/ticker/bitcoin/?convert=USD
Routers makes it’s news services available as an API. Any site can consume that service and render Routers news items on their site. Similary, the weather channel offers it’s weather data service. And so on.
2 Likes
I found it way much easier to understand what is the API and how is it works by watching the video rather then reading the article. Now reading the article makes much more sense too for me.
How are you guys feel about it?
Who found it easier to understand it the other way around?
This video is perfect explanation about API!
1 Like
API - Where would we be without API. API is the backbone of the internet because different services communicate with each other through API’s. Client communicates with your server through API. Different programs and services communicate with each other through API. Application Programming Interface. When client wants to request some information from the server, the API specifies HOW the client should ASK for that information.
Also The API specifies HOW, and in what format the server should reply.
1 Like
As I understand, we are still communicating with words, while computers communicate with binary code. API and for that matter any programming language is an abstraction of the binary code. In ancient time I was introduced ti Basic and Pascal, at that time a “high level language”. I used to write “code” in a text editor, importing it to a compiler and thus creating an exe-file.
This exe-file was impossible for me to understand, but it ran on the computer within the DOS environment.
Now, regarding API is this the compiler or the exe-file? In @ivan 's video I get the impression it is the exe-file, but I have a feeling I miss some important point. Perhaps because I am on the wrong abstraction level…
3 Likes
Yeah I’ve came back to this lecture and I get it now it think. I’ve connected a few exchanges to my Block folio account now and all my tx history is now on my profile … Great stuff.
3 Likes
the exe-file (executable file) is the one who compile the data to API. API is just a way to share data between different computers, JSON is the most used over the internet.
Is the whole program who have a function that create a API file (we can call it JSON file) with data that you want to let other computers know, shared data.
Hope you find this useful.
If you have any more questions, please let us know so we can help you! 
Carlos Z.
3 Likes
I am not 100% with you, but I guess this is a programming issue that will be clarified later.
2 Likes
As (nearly) always, it’s about the Balance, isn’t it?
From the Business side of writing/sharing APIs (vs. the technical coding side) -
there must be a balance between ‘giving away’ enough access
to encourage more usage of the business product/service,
but not so much as to ‘give away’ the proprietary secret sauce of what makes it what it is.
As an ignorant beginner in the BC space, I do have a strong sense
that API knowledge - from both the business strategy as well as the technical coding sides,
is going to be of supreme importance in how easily blockchain-based enterprise
as well as cryptocurrencies, attain and command market share -
not to mention “Revolutionize Life and the Internet as we know it [Web3]”. 
Witness China’s current leading role in the integration of so many Fin-tech new ideas
with the MOBILE - MOBILE - MOBILE space - as in “4th Industrial Revolution” memes.
with Africa and South America hot on their heels
2 Likes
Great video about what an API is and what it does. the video is an abstraction of the complexity of the matter
1 Like
What’s the difference between a programing language (python, java) and an API?
Ex: I want to fetch results for someone’s fb friends. Does my browser send this in the form of code in a specific programing language to the FB server? can the FB server comprehend more than one language? or is the API in and of itself a language along with a set of rules of what a client can do with the server data?
1 Like
A programming language is capable to execute instructions based on their design, while the API is the result of the execution of a operation (from the server) which is made in a readable way for other programming languages (or servers). Meaning, python or java can interact between each others through an API. 
Carlos Z
1 Like
Thanks for answering! So, say you are requesting info from a database using an API. Does the programing language in which you are inquiring the API depend on you (the website for example), the way the API is built, or the database?
1 Like
This video offers a simplified explanation of what an API is and its role in software development. Great Job! thank you for sharing
2 Likes