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Digital Systems

Department of Management Information Systems, Temple University

Digital Systems

MIS 2101.712 ■ Summer 2022 ■ Steven E. Sclarow, AIA
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I still don’t know what an API is

Angelo Brunetti - May 31, 2022 5 Comments

If you’re like me then you struggle understand pretty basic concepts that most people grasp pretty easily. I forgot what this acronym stood for; it is Applicaiton Programming Interface. An API is a software interface that allows two or more applications to interact with each other. Now that I defined what it was, I am starting to remember. 

This graphic represents an API, it allows products or services to communicate with other products or services. One example we talked about in class if TripAdvisor. Now, I have never used that app, but I have a general understand of how it may work. My understanding is you go on their app and you are able to see a bunch of different flights from different airliners. They do this so that they can push traffic to their business in the hopes of getting more views. Yelp also works on the same preface, but they are a bit more complicated to understand.

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Comments

  1. Meghan Gemelli says

    June 6, 2022 at 8:46 pm

    Hi Angelo, sometimes grasping the concept of topics is difficult for me as well. You did a good job in explaining the acronym of API in simpler terms. Your explanation actually helped me understand it a lot more clearly, specifically the example of TripAdvisor you included.

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  2. Grace Adams says

    June 6, 2022 at 11:20 pm

    Hi Angelo, I really appreciate your honesty when it comes to struggling with understanding last weeks material. For me, it was a concept I had a hard time understanding as well. I’m not sure whether it was because it wasn’t necessarily a topic that I was interested in or because it was something my brain really couldn’t click with. Reading your definition really helped, along with extra material and reviewing the readings more in depth.

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  3. Steven E. Sclarow, AIA says

    June 7, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    Great title and post! Nice job defining API in your own terms, I especially like the infographic too. Be sure to site your source and/or provide a hyperlink. Now that you have a general understanding of how APIs are used, consider looking into other apps and digital tools you use…what APIs have you already encountered?

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  4. Madison Gordon says

    June 13, 2022 at 12:01 pm

    I agree with you on the fact that sometimes grasping concepts that seem to be easy is actually difficult. This course has seemed easy but I am learning that these things go much deeper and have a lot of benefits. Through class and your post, I can have a better understanding of API too.

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  5. Beckett Houck says

    June 19, 2022 at 11:49 pm

    I really enjoyed how you involved the graphic you used into the discussion post. It made it a lot nicer to follow along and allowed me to also understand what an API is.

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Instructor

Steven E. Sclarow, AIA

Email: sclarow@temple.edu
Virtual Office Hour Availability: Tue, 10 - 11:00 AM, or by appointment. Please email me to schedule an appointment outside of my normal office hours.
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