When i started my journey in computer science, the term that confused me the most was API. as a beginner (still a beginner) i confused myself with the term API & APK (Android Package Kit).

Application Programming Interface (API)

API stands for Application Programming Interface. which is a software intermediary that allows two application to talk to each other. Each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message or check the weather on your phone, you are using an API. The API is not the database or even the server; it is the code that governs the access point(s) for the server.

What Is an Example of an API?

A real world example is ordering a food at a restaurant. The client order his food through the waiter. But what's going on between ordering your pizza and receiving it? API's, that's what! then the waiter talks to the cook (other services and databases) to prepare your food. Finally, the cook gives the order to the waiter and he delivers it to your table.

One thing to keep in mind is that the name of some APIs are often used to refer to both the specification of the interactions and the actual software component you interact with. The phase "Twitter API," for example not only refers to the set of rules of programmtically interact with Twitter but is generally understood to mean thing you interact with as in "we are analyzing the tweets we got from the Twitter API".