Don’t worry…they aren’t as scary as Lions, Tigers, and Bears, BUT given the right circumstances and big enough information pool to feed off of…these alphabetical tech terms could potentially cause quite a stir in the technology world. For now, let’s focus on the letter “A” as in API or Application Programming Interface. Basically, it’s code for a program…that can be implemented in software/programs/websites…simple right? It’s a beautiful thing actually.
Courtesy of SLPN
Think about this…API’s are used ALL the time without most people knowing. Google Maps is a great example, because of how it can incorporate code from apartment searches or bargain deal hunters to display the information visually on the map.
Do you like to Tweet? Well there’s an API for that. Tweet deck and Twapper Keeper are API’s that use Twitter’s code to organize it however the consumer pleases. It’s all about relaying info from one source to another.
Out of all the tech acronyms, the API could possibly be the most likely to grow in the future with its vast potential. How far the API can grow depends on big businesses on the web like Facebook, Twitter, Store websites, Search engines like Google, and how open they want to be with the world…and developers.
“Today at its mobile event, Facebook has just announced that it’s opening up its Write API and Search API to Facebook Places, in addition to the Read API that launched earlier this year.”
This excerpt was taken from an article in Tech Crunch on November 3rd talking about Facebook giving developers the ability to write code for their new Facebook Places. What does this mean? Why should you care? Well if you are a developer of APIs you would care very much since this is a potentially big business investment. The idea of being able to help the largest online social network in the world to grow even more powerful can boost anyone’s ego, but for us non developer folk, it’s just a heads up of what is to come. I’ve written about Facebook and coupons which ties into the Facebook places, but now that it’s an open API you can expect more and more things to open up to you if you are a Facebook Places user.
Stories like these can help you get an idea of how APIs are growing and have tremendous potential, not only for consumers but also as a business tactic. Apps in Apple’s App Store are a great way to get the consumer more into the business you are in or promoting. So my advice to everyone is…either learn to write code for APIs….or start becoming good friends with someone who already knows, because APIs aren’t going away anytime soon…
Get to Studying
