The most common way to use an application online is by a web platform. The user has to move to the corresponding URL and then gets the requested information from the navigator interactively. Or, in other words, by using the User Interface that the provider has designed for that aim.
This procedure is often enough for the majority of the clients. Nevertheless, there are other different ways to access the platform that, surely, it could be more suitable for a certain kind of user.
Namely, if the online services allows that, it will be also possible to access the same information by running several commands that the user has programmed previously. The method used for the interaction is known as Application Programming Interface, or API.
In this post, we will show some main API features, because it could give very interesting possibilities for users with a certain knowledge of programming.
An API allows the communication between 2 applications. An application “A” (at user’s side) sends a query to the application “B” (the web platform) and then “B” returns a response with the information or the result of the action requested in the query from “A”. As commented before, the idea is that the action of sending queries and processing the responses can be programmed previously, so it is very important to have a minimum of programming skills to obtain the most profit to the protocol.
Here we address the main advantages of the method:
- Automatization. It reduces the amount of tasks a worker has to do in the web platform. Instead, these tasks are programmed and executed from a computer and, in consequence, it increases the efficiency of the work flow. It is possible, for example, to get real time data without human intervention, or to run some actions in the plaform after certain conditions.
- The users can customize the service, implement new functions or make analysis of the data according to their needs. Let’s say they can make a “tailored suit” for themselves, that they can also change or modify whenever they need.
- Lastly, and perhaps more interesting, in that APIs are very useful to integrate or embed the services from the web platform into the user’s system (or product). This integration or synchronization does not depend on the operative system or programming language.
- For these reasons, we are completely commited with the great possibilities that APIs could give. At the moment, we are able to provide API access to our SIAM platform, in our way to improve our quality standard and increasing the potential benefits that our customers can obtain from our work.
