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Application Programming Interface (API) Services: Web API are supported by .NET and provides a unified programming model for rapidly building service-oriented applications that communicate across the web and the enterprise. These are small and highly efficient programs that are also reusable. These units employ information exchange standards to enable communication between different programs that might be written in different languages and reside on different machines and operating systems.
API Services provide a standard means of interoperating between different software applications, running on a variety of platforms and/or frameworks. Web services are characterized by their great interoperability and extensibility, as well as their machine-processable descriptions thanks to the use of XML. They can be combined in a loosely coupled way in order to achieve complex operations. Programs providing simple services can interact with each other in order to deliver sophisticated added-value services.
Technically a API Services might be described as a "self-describing software modules, semantically encapsulating discrete functionality, wrapped in and accessible via standard Internet communication protocols like Web API.
More clearly it could be described as an approach that helps the business connect with its customers, partners, and employees. They enable the business to extend existing services to new customers. They help the business work more efficiently with its partners and suppliers. They unlock information so it can flow to every employee who needs it. They reduce development time and expense for new projects. You'll hear less about what API Services are and more about what they enable the business to do.
The sample on the right uses a Web API Service to exchange data between two machines.
Below are some public WebAPI GET Services that we have designed and use from different applications (both websites and software)
- Country information from IP: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/geoip/country/18.227.21.213/
- Country location information from IP: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/geoip/country-location/18.227.21.213/
- Prayer times for latitude and longitude: https://api.krn.org/api/islamic/prayer-time/geographic-coordinate/{latitude}/{longitude}
- Weather information for Kuwait with illustrations: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/weather/kuwait
- Search the Koran in a language: https://api.krn.org/api/islamic/koran/search/{languageSymbol}/{searchTerm}
- Return a verse from the Koran in a language: https://api.krn.org/api/islamic/koran/verse/{languageSymbol}/{chapterNumber}/{verseNumber}
- Return a random verse related to specific topic in a language: https://api.krn.org/api/islamic/koran/faith/calculated-verse/{languageSymbol}/{topic}
- Return time for Web API testing: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/time
- Read all registered agents from the API server: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/agents
- Read all heartbeats from the API server: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/heartbeats
- Read all packages from the API server: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/packets
- Read Integrated Application's RSA Public-Key from the API server: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/public-key
- Echo an input for Web API testing: https://api.ia.com.kw/api/echo/{text}
For API help pages please visit
- Integrated Applications API Server Help
- Koran Reference Network API Server Help
- TentPlay Studios API Server Help
Benefits of API Services
By enabling applications to share data across different hardware platforms and operating systems, API Services provide many benefits, including:
- Opening the door to new business opportunities by making it easy to connect with partners.
- Delivering dramatically more personal, integrated experiences to users through the new breed of smart devices—including PCs.
- Saving time and money by cutting development time.
- Increasing revenue streams by enabling businesses to easily make their own API Services available to others.
The modified article and illustrations are taken from Microsoft Corporation & W3C.
Sample Web API Services
Below is a good example of a simple, public Web API service. The OpenWeatherMap.org website provides an Application Programming Interface (API) Service section that would return XML data specific to required locations around the world. Our program below contacts the OpenWeatherMap.org API Service regularily and request weather information relative to, say, Kuwait. The XML data is then manipulated and presented on our website as is shown below:
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