What are APIs?

Social media / Web development

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a service provided by organisations such as Google, Twitter and Facebook to allow developers to tap into the functionality of a service to build an application of their own without having to start completely from scratch.

They can be very useful when creating applications for your business. An events website, for example, could use the Facebook Event API to allow their visitors to RSVP to an event and this will appear in the visitor’s upcoming events listings on Facebook.

We have put Google’s Maps API to good use recently for one of our clients who run nurseries throughout southern England. We built a tool for parents to find their closest nursery using the postcode they provide. Once entered, the site displays a Google Map plotting the nearest nurseries and offering additional information about each one. We’ve made similar use of the Google Maps API in the past for clients such as Creative Calderdale and Profile Showers.