Understanding how applications talk to each-other - REST APIs etc

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1

Hello Friends,

I just wonder if I could get your views on learning APIs. In particular I want to understand how applications talk to each-other, for example - Google APIs, FreshService/Desk API. I want to understand how data can be pushed from different apps and then even get to understand how Wappler handles these APIs.

Id like to also understand the theory behind JSON, which I gather is the format is which data is passed over via APIs using GETs and POSTs.

So, I’m looking at this course - https://www.udemy.com/course/nodejs-the-complete-guide/ and just wondered from what you’ve read from the above does that seem the right way to go? There is a lot in this sure I’d welcome your thoughts. In terms of my knowledge - I’m a complete newbie to the world of APIs - but have a very basic understanding.

Thanks
M

2

No idea about APIs but that course looks like something that I might find useful. Thanks for that link.

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3

The instructor of that course is great, but it goes above what you want to learn - it teaches writing NodeJS apps by hand (i.e.: without Wappler). Of course you'll learn APIs with that course, I'm just saying it goes much further than you possibly intend

You can start by downloading Postman or Insomnia REST as API clients, so you can start playing with APIs of your favourite services

JSON is indeed a pretty elementary skill when it comes to APIs. JSON is the preferred format of exchanging data, they're essentially Javascript Objects. If you know a bit of Javascript, you know JSON

{
    name: "M",
    country: "GB",
}

That's a JS object with two properties/keys: name and country

And APIs are like that, let's imagine you want to add a new ticket to FreshDesk (hypothetical example):

// Please note this is an hypothetical example
// POST /ticket
{
    "email": "example@example.com",
    "name": "M",
    "message": "I need help! Please help! Thank you"
}

And, like that, you've just created a ticket in a helpdesk software. Of course, in real-life you'd need to append an Authorization token to your API request, so the helpdesk software knows you're authorized to make tickets on behalf of users.

I'd recommend you to find a Wappler-focused course/video that talks about APIs

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