Networking

API if you are a developer you might have came across this term, in general some url’s are api’s and not all url’s are api.

Generally URL are used to view a website not all URLs are APIs, but some URLs can be endpoints for an API. URLs are web addresses that allow users to access resources on the internet, such as web pages, images, and documents.

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software applications. APIs allow different software systems to communicate and exchange data with each other in a standardized way, making it easier for developers to create new applications that can integrate with existing systems.

APIs are often used by web developers to access data from third-party services, such as social media platforms, payment gateways, and weather services. For example, a developer may use the Twitter API to retrieve tweets from a user’s account and display them on a website.

APIs can be classified into different types, such as RESTful APIs, SOAP APIs, and GraphQL APIs, depending on the way they are designed and the protocols they use. RESTful APIs are the most common type of API and are used for web-based communication. They use HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE to communicate with the server and retrieve or manipulate data.

Overall, APIs play a vital role in enabling software applications to communicate and work together, making it possible for developers to create powerful and interconnected systems.

API Usage :

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) have a wide range of uses in software development, including:

Integrating with third-party services: APIs enable developers to integrate their applications with third-party services, such as social media platforms, payment gateways, and weather services.

Creating custom applications: APIs provide developers with the building blocks they need to create custom applications. By using APIs, developers can save time and effort, as they don’t have to build everything from scratch.

Enabling mobile app development: APIs make it easier to develop mobile apps that can access data and functionality from web-based services.

Automating tasks: APIs can be used to automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry or file processing.

Enhancing user experience: APIs can be used to enhance the user experience of a software application by providing additional functionality, such as search or data visualization.

Enabling cross-platform development: APIs make it possible to develop software applications that can run on multiple platforms, such as desktop, web, and mobile.

Overall, APIs have become an essential part of modern software development, enabling developers to build powerful and interconnected systems that can integrate with a wide range of services and devices.

Types of API :

There are several types of APIs, including:

RESTful API :

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a style of software architecture that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE data. RESTful APIs are designed to be easily scalable and highly adaptable, making them a popular choice for web-based applications.

SOAP API :

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is an XML-based messaging protocol used to exchange data between systems. SOAP APIs are designed to be highly secure and reliable, making them a popular choice for enterprise-level applications.

GraphQL API :

GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs that was developed by Facebook. GraphQL APIs allow clients to specify exactly what data they need, and the server responds with only that data. This reduces the amount of data transferred over the network, making GraphQL APIs more efficient than RESTful APIs.

Webhooks :

Webhooks are a way for applications to send real-time notifications to other applications. When an event occurs in one application, it sends a message to another application via HTTP POST request.

RPC API :

RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a protocol used to request a service from a program running on another computer on a network. RPC APIs allow developers to call remote methods as if they were local methods, making them easier to use than other types of APIs.

OpenAPI :

OpenAPI (formerly known as Swagger) is a specification for building and documenting RESTful APIs. OpenAPI provides a standardized way to describe the capabilities of an API, making it easier for developers to understand and use the API.

If you want to know real time api development may visit

HTTP Status Code ? Have you ever dealt with API calling or when you have visited any website where you were not able to load the website properly and noticed status codes like 400, 500.

I have covered some basic status codes which we may encounter mostly in our day to day life not only as a developer but for general use getting to know them will be helpful.

HTTP status codes are three-digit numbers that indicate the status of a HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) response from a server to a client. The status code is included in the response message header and is used to provide information about the status of the request. Here are some common HTTP status codes:

1xx (Informational): Indicates that the request was received and the server is continuing to process it.

2xx (Successful): Indicates that the request was successfully received, understood, and accepted.

3xx (Redirection): Indicates that further action needs to be taken by the user agent in order to fulfill the request.

4xx (Client Error): Indicates that the client made a bad request, such as a malformed URL or missing authentication.

5xx (Server Error): Indicates that the server encountered an error while processing the request, such as a database error or a server overload.

Some commonly encountered HTTP status codes are 200 OK (successful request), 404 Not Found (resource not found), and 500 Internal Server Error (server error).

Scenario :

Consider as a general user you tried to access a website which has a certain timings to provide services mostly like banking then in this case after the prescribed timings you try to access to a service what happens ??.

Yes you guessed it right you might get angry, disturbed and what’s not after multiple query’s but when you try to observe the status code 503 then you will understand that currently service is unavailable due to maintenance or timings so on.

Just go through the below http status codes for General Knowledge on how web works.

Http Status Codes :

200 OK :

Success is represented by this http status code 200 almost in all the network calls like POST, GET, DELETE, UPDATE…

201 CREATED :

When ever you try to post some content into your server, like creating a user record or anything related to adding a resource then this particular code is returned.

202 ACCEPTED :

When you post some data which needs to be validated / verified then this particular status code will be returned stating that your data has been accepted and is waiting for processing.

400 BAD REQUEST :

If the request is not proper i.e., details missing or syntax not proper then this status code is returned.

403 FORBIDDEN :

When you are not authorized to access any content i..e, no authorization token is specified in the api call then this status code is returned.

404 NOT FOUND :

This status code is returned when the resource you are trying to find is no more available or is not at all available.

405 METHOD NOT ALLOWED :

When you try to use a methods like POST / UPDATE / PUT / DELETE, generally few websites only provide GET supported methods and when you try to POST then this status code is returned.

408 REQUEST TIMEOUT :

This request code you may find mostly when there is a lot of delay in making the api request or response best example for you to understand is OTP while making a payment after a certain time then the request is timeout.

500 INTERNAL SERVER ERROR :

When the request is not able to handle or there is any error in server side coding.Mostly related to server side coding.

501 METHOD NOT IMPLEMENTED :

When you try to access a method like POST, PUT, DELETE when they are not available.

502 BAD GATEWAY :

When there is a internal error in handling the request methods from gateway to provide the response we get this status code.

503 SERVICE UNAVAILABLE:

When the server is turned down for maintenance or due to timings the we receive this error on making a network call.

504 GATEWAY TIMEOUT:

When the gateway is not able to provide the response in time we will receive this status code.

Domain Extensions, In the world of internet domains i.e., websites play a key role. What is a domain ? Have you heard this for the first time so let’s get started with this blog to see difference between .com .net .org and their usage.

You might have visited many websites in your day to day life and somewhere you might get a question that why there are different domain suffixes like .com, .net, .org so on.

Websites can be categorized into different categories according the requirement these categories will help us to identify the service provided in the respective website.

There is no restriction on purchase of few TLD’s and these can be purchased any where around the world and registered but few are restricted like .gov which are mostly related to government services.

Registration of domains makes that particular domain to be allocated to the member purchased it and the fee for domains varies based on the demand for respective domain.

Most popular domain ???

The first top level domain registered is ‘.com’ on march 15 1985 by Symbolics, Inc i.e., https://Symbolics.com. .com stands for commercial as it was the first domain and almost 50% of the market is covered up with .com

Although it’s states as commercial there is no restriction on the purchase of this domain and also widely used considering it has wide coverage.

Top Level Domains (TLD):

Every suffix i.e., top level domain has its own importance and you are free to use any of them they are divided into various categories but are still available for you to purchase.

For example in simple terms let us see few top level domains and their usage also difference between .com .net .org (There are more available for now we are considering few)

Domain Extensions

.com -> Used mostly used for commercial and business purpose.

.org -> Used for organizational purpose.

.net -> Used for networking purpose and there is no restriction in this domain usage by individuals.

.edu -> Used for educational purpose by schools and university’s.

.gov -> Government related websites make use of this extensions.

Country Code Top Level Domains :

And there are many other domain extensions based on countries like .in (India), .us (United States), .au (Australia), .ca (Canada) and more.

There is no compulsion that you cannot purchase domain from different country’s. But it depends on your requirement because when you are trying to purchase a domain of other country where you don’t have your business then it might sound unnecessary.

Website ?

A website is a collection of web pages and associated content, typically identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. It can contain various types of information such as text, images, videos, and other multimedia content that can be accessed by internet users via a web browser.

Websites can serve different purposes, such as providing information about a company, organization, or individual, selling products or services, sharing news or opinions, or offering online tools or applications. They can also be used for entertainment or social interaction, such as online games, social networks, or video sharing platforms.

A website is typically created using web development tools and technologies, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Web designers and developers work together to create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface, as well as to ensure that the website is functional and accessible to all users, regardless of their device or browser.

To access a website, users typically enter the website’s domain name or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) into a web browser, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari. The browser then sends a request to the web server where the website is hosted, and the server responds by sending the web pages and content back to the user’s browser for display.

Domain ?

Domain is the name of the website by which you relate it. The simple example and most used domain is google.com.

Domain name is easy to understand rather then physical address for example let us consider https://localhost web developers mostly know this you can also reach to localhost pointing to their physical address at 127.0.0.1.

Similar way every website will have a physical address but it will be difficult for you to remember them.

These physical address called to be IP address are used to host a website on server whether small servers or rack server.

You can find the domain name in website url in short web url before www.—-.com these ‘—-‘ are replaced by your domain name and in email address abc@—-.com these ‘—-‘ are replaced by your domain name

If you have any questions about domain extensions discussed in this blog, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.