Reading time: 9 minutes
Every time you check the weather on your phone, the app doesn't have its own weather station. It asks a weather service for the latest data. When you pay for something online, the shop's website doesn't process your credit card itself — it asks a payment service to handle it. When you log into an app using your Google account, that app asks Google to verify who you are.
All of these conversations happen through APIs — Application Programming Interfaces. An API is simply a structured way for one piece of software to request something from another piece of software and get a response.
If you're building apps — even with AI doing most of the coding — you'll encounter APIs constantly. Understanding what they are and how they work will make you a dramatically more capable builder.
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