APIs vs Web Services: Is API a Web Service?

What Is an API?

An API rule governs how software components should interact. APIs are used to access information from databases and content management systems or to implement a new feature in an existing product.

What Is a Web Service?

A Web Service is a software application that provides functionality over the internet. It can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously. It can send and receive data from remote services. A web service uses XML request messages and responses for building web applications.

API vs Web Service

APIs are ways of interacting with applications and other systems through software programs.

Hubspot defines the main difference between API and web services as (1):

“The key distinction is that web services are a type of API: All web services are APIs, but not all APIs are web services. ‘API’ is the broader category because, by definition, it refers to any software component that acts as an intermediary between two otherwise disconnected applications.“

– Hubspot

APIs can access data or send commands to an application from a third-party system or application. They give you an easy-to-use interface that lets you get more out of your existing technologies and resources.

Why Are APIs So Useful?

APIs are useful. For example, if you’d like to add social features to your website, you might use various APIs from social media and others to connect your site to theirs. Or, if you have a mobile app that sends out push notifications, you might use an API to send those notifications over the web instead of depending on users’ devices to be connected.

APIs are particularly useful because they make it easier for developers to create new applications that work together with existing ones. They also make it easier for companies to develop apps that integrate.

What Is a RESTful Web Service?

A RESTful Web Service is a web service that uses the REST architectural style, meaning that it’s based on HTTP requests, with URLs as unique identifiers for resources. The key idea behind REST is that every resource has its own URI (Uniform Resource Indicator), meaning that every resource can be identified and accessed independently of other resources on the same server.

As a result, there are no hard-coded relationships between resources — any given resource can only be accessed via another resource whose URI points to it. This makes it possible to use hypermedia to create links between different resources in the system.

A more detailed definition of a RESTful Web Service is that REST is an architectural style for designing distributed systems characterized by separating concerns into distinct components, namely clients, servers, and intermediaries such as caches and proxies. The basic mechanics of HTTP can be used as an implementation mechanism for building RESTful systems.

Are API and Web Services the Same Thing?

APIs and web services depend on who interacts with them. Web services are consumed by humans, while APIs are most often used by computers or programs to interact with each other.

The term API refers to a type of software component that programmers can access and use in the development of their application, separate from the rest of their codebase. It’s important to note that while an API is not necessarily a web service, they’re often used interchangeably because they are software interface types that let different components communicate.

What Are the Web API Advantages?

Web APIs are a great tool for developers because they allow for application creations that offer a wide range of functionality. The most common web API type lets applications access a website’s data from another source, whether that source is a database or an external server.

This is the primary method by which other sites and applications can interact with social networking sites, but it has a much broader scope. Many businesses and companies use web APIs to make their services more accessible across different platforms on the Internet and make it easier for customers to interact with them through various devices.

What Are the Web API Disadvantages?

The API is the core of an application. Being a core component, the API needs to be secure and robust. However, Web Application Programming Interface (API) ‘s main disadvantage is data security. An API key can give users complete access to your applications’ data and many operations.

Therefore, it becomes essential that the keys are kept safe and secured against misuse and unauthorized access. The same holds for other identifying attributes, such as tokens or cookies that can be hacked and then used to obtain unauthorized access to your applications’ data or operations.

What Are the Advantages of Web Services?

The advantage of web services is that they allow for different interconnectivity, especially with other web services. Their reach isn’t limited to other websites. Web services can interact with almost any data source, such as databases, business software, or weather patterns.

Are APIs and Web Services Similar?

While APIs and web services expose data, the definitions of the two terms are not the same. The term API (Application Programming Interface) refers to a specific interface exposed by an application, program, or operating system that allows for interaction with other code.

The API is usually defined in terms of inputs and outputs of functions, parameters, and return values.

In contrast, a web service is a computer program communicating with other programs over the Internet. Web services are often published as RESTful APIs.

To be considered an API, there has to be a formal definition describing what calls are allowed and how they behave on the server side. For example, a GET function returns a list of items, or a POST function creates a new item.

What Is the Difference Between Web Services and APIs?

A web service is a software application that implements SOAP and REST protocols for communication over a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) transport.

An Application Programming Interface (API) is an abstract description of how one application (client) can use the functionality provided by another (server). This could be a remote procedure call, remote method invocation, or even remote interface implementation.

What Are API Types?

APIs are the developers’ gateway to the data of a business. Most businesses will have several types of API available to help their customers take advantage of their services and data. These API types are:

• Data API. It gives access to raw data in a business’ database
• File API. This permits access to files stored on the company’s servers
• Authentication API. Grants limited access to the business’ account information and other private information
• Business API. Gives access to a business’ applications or internal tools
• Cloud API. Remote access to software applications that can be accessed from anywhere.

What Are the Web Services Types?

There are many types of web services. Each one serves a different purpose. These are the most common types of web services:

• Web Application
• Web API
• Web Content Management System (CMS)
• Federated Web Service
• Web Hosting.

How Is an API Different From a Web Application?

The difference between an API and a web application is one of scope (https://sonatafy.com/web-services-vs-web-application/). A web app typically runs on a web server and provides a user interface that permits interaction with the data in a database (usually MySQL). The developers may provide this data for their purposes or the users as part of using the app.

An API, on the other hand, generally does not provide any user interface. Instead, its job is to provide access to data from other sources. In some cases, an API may be used for both purposes, including access to data created for the developer’s purposes and providing access to another site’s data.

Web Service vs REST API

There are two main types of API for web services, the REST API and the web service API.

The most critical point of this API is that the resources are presented as URLs. The REST API is easy to learn and use (2).

“The reason REST is so great is that it offers a standardized methodology for making requests to an API. Once you learn one REST API, other REST APIs are going to function in a similar way.”

– Rapidapi 

REST stands for Representational State Transfer. This is a technology to build an application on the World Wide Web. The critical point of REST is that it uses HTTP methods to create, update or delete resources on a server.

It is a very convenient type of API because it uses well-known methods such as GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE to operate on resources.

On the other hand, the web service API provides a complex data structure to manipulate resources. To use this API, you need to know about the data structures and methods provided by the web service.

Web Service vs API vs Microservices

Web services, APIs, and microservices are all technological ways to provide access to data or functionality. Here are their differences:

Web service. A web service is an application for which you can build interfaces in various languages. It’s useful when you need your app to be usable by people outside your company or organization.

API. An application programming interface or API lets software components talk to each other. It’s generally used as a more technical way of talking about a web service, though they’re not interchangeable terms. Like web services, APIs are often built in different languages and used by developers.

In addition to making the functionality of your app more accessible outside your organization, it can also make it more usable by different types of users who might not be familiar with your company’s particular language or technology stack.

Microservice. A microservice is a small piece of software that does only one thing or does one particular task extremely well. The name microservice refers to their small size.

These services can communicate with each other via APIs to accomplish larger tasks but behave like independent applications in that they do not need complex interfaces integrating them into other software packages or networks.

What Is the Difference Between SOAP and REST APIs?

SOAP and REST APIs permit access to the data stored in a server. Essentially, they are the same type of API. They both provide a way for developers to get information from the server, but they differ.

SOAP is a protocol that defines how functions can be called over the web. It stands for Simple Object Access Protocol. SOAP methods are defined with XML Schema Definition (XSD) — the content of the function call is specified using Extensible Markup Language (XML).

A SOAP web service uses HTTP as its transport mechanism. It supports remote procedure calls (RPCs) over HTTP. It’s intended for use by distributed applications and supports message-oriented communications.

REST stands for Representational State Transfer. One of the most common ways to interact with an API is through a simple request-response operation. It’s called the Representational State Transfer (REST) pattern, and it’s what you typically see in APIs that are accessed through a browser.

You’re accessing resources — in this case, data — and using HTTP verbs to do so. For example, when requesting a particular resource (resource is a technical term for data), you’d use the GET verb. When creating a resource, you use POST to send a representation of that resource to the server.

What Is API Testing — What Tools Can You Use To Test API?

The main aim of API tests is to ensure that the APIs you develop are working fine with the integration points and components they are supposed to interact with or integrate with. The end-to-end scenario can be tested using automated scripts of an appropriate framework, such as SoapUI, RestAssured, and Postman.

With this type of testing, you write tests at a high level for expected results and then run them to verify that those results are correct. In this type of API testing, you don’t usually care about how specific components integrate, but only if they do so correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions About API vs Web Service: Is API a Web Service?

How do APIs work?

APIs work by letting one application access some portion of another application’s functionality. For example, an online store may provide an API for developers if they want to include product ordering capabilities in their websites or programs.

This would permit developers to access the data about the inventory, pricing, shipping information, etc., without having to build the systems from scratch — saving time and money in developing the website or program in question. Techopedia says this is done by (3):

“APIs give authorized third-party partners “behind the firewall” access to specific data types.”

– Techopedia

What is REST?

REST is an architecture style that lets different devices (including smartphones and tablets) access data through web browsers over HTTP.

RESTful web services are more lightweight than conventional SOAP-based web services because they require less bandwidth and computing power to communicate.

Where are web services used?

Web services are used in various areas. They are used to accessing and manipulating data from different types of sources. Web services enable data integration from applications and allow a seamless flow of information from one application to another.

Is RESTful web service?

RESTful is a type of web service that relies on HTTP and the existing tools, standards, and concepts underlying the Web. RESTful is often used to describe a service’s interface. A RESTful web service adheres to the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST). In practice, the server makes available resources through a uniform interface, and the client uses this interface to manipulate the resources.

What is the difference between WMS and WFS?

The WMS and WFS are two interfaces for web service that are part of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard for WMS. The OGC has specified that for WMS and WFS, the same interface should be used regardless of what server is providing the data.

This means if you write software to use one, it can be used with any server providing data via those APIs. The difference between the two comes from their intended use. This includes:

• WMS. Web Map Service is an interface designed for accessing raster map services, such as satellite imagery or aerial photos. It provides functions to get tile-based images of a specific size at a particular location.
• WFS. Web Feature Service is an interface designed to access vector map services, such as topographic maps or GIS features. It provides functions to get features of certain types within bounding boxes at a certain location.

Conclusion

APIs and web services are concepts used to describe systems that authorize two pieces of software to communicate with each other. The main difference is in how developers access them. Developers can invoke an API set of functions and procedures to perform specific operations. If you want to build an application that works with multiple systems and platforms without regard to their interfaces, web services provide the right choice.

References:

1. 1. The key distinction is that web services are a type of API: All web services are APIs, but not all APIs are web services. ‘API’ is the broader category because, by definition, it refers to any software component that acts as an intermediary between two otherwise disconnected applications. – Hubspot Quote
      https://blog.hubspot.com/website/web-services-vs-api#:~:text=The%20key%20distinction%20is%20that,between%20two%20otherwise%20disconnected%20applications.
   2. The reason REST is so great is that it offers a standardized methodology for making requests to an API. Once you learn one REST API, other REST APIs are going to function in a similar way. – Rapidapi Quote
      https://rapidapi.com/blog/api-vs-web-service/
   3. APIs give authorized third-party partners “behind the firewall” access to specific data types. – Techopedia Quote
      https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24407/application-programming-interface-api