You’ve probably heard two extravagant terms thrown around when discussing software design and integrations: APIs and microservices. Both topics are important in web application development and design nowadays, and their applications overlap. In this article, we will discuss the API and microservices individually about their architecture, working, and reliability. In the later part of this article, we will see how they complement each other.
What is an API?
The API or the Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary and also a part of an application that communicates with another application. This enables both the software to communicate with each other and share and modify each other’s data. An API, in more technical terms, is a set of protocols and procedures that describe how two programs share and alter data. External developers can access some elements of an application’s backend without needing to understand how it all works inside the app due to an API that lies between the software’s fundamental components and the public. This is what distinguishes an API as a programming interface. APIs are used by everybody who uses the software. APIs enable software integrations, which allows normally disparate software entities to share information and collaborate.
Assume you’re doing some online shopping and are about to check out. You see that the store you’re on offers HelloPay as a payment processor. You already have a HelloPayNow.com account with your payment information set up. How practical!
Because PayNow is a separate firm from the store you’re presently visiting, an API allows the store and HelloPay to communicate. To begin, the store requests your payment details via HelloPay’s payment gateway API. The HelloPay API then fields the request, verifies it, pulls data from its customer database, and sends it back to the store. Finally, the store completes the transaction using your card details. Your store receives all of the information it requires to complete your checkout without having to access HelloPay’s private database or requiring you to leave the store website.
API provides a Layer of Security
The data on your phone is never completely exposed to the server, and the server is never completely exposed to your phone. Instead, each interacts using short data packets, providing only what is required—such as ordering takeout. In a restaurant you will tell the restaurant what you want to eat, they tell you what they require in exchange, and you get your meal at the end.
REST APIs
Because an API is more of a notion, programmers can create their own API for their projects. Most, however, rely on frameworks to build them.
REST, or Representational State Transfer, is a framework for constructing APIs, and REST APIs are those that follow the REST guidelines. The REST APIs, which are also utilized in microservices, are the most frequent type of API for cross-platform interactions. REST defines a set of guidelines for creating APIs that are both efficient and safe. REST APIs respond to HTTP queries using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) formatted answers. The common protocol for web-based data transfer is HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Developers may easily learn how to construct or interact with a REST API if they have some knowledge of HTTP.
What is a Microservice?
Microservices are a type of software architecture that breaks down an application’s various operations into smaller “services” or components.
Microservice architecture is an architectural style for modern web projects. The functionality is divided up into smaller parts, and this is usually what people mean when they say microservices.
Microservices are an example of Service-Oriented Architecture, or SOA, which has increased in popularity as a viable alternative to the traditional strategy of creating monolithic, self-contained programs.
At MuleSoft, we define microservices as an architectural pattern for creating applications. Under this pattern, applications structure as a collection of loosely coupled services. This is distinct from traditional applications, or monoliths, that structure as single self-contained artifacts.
– Andrew Dent, Client Architect at MuleSoft
Why Microservices?
Microservices are mostly trendy now because they make developing, integrating, and maintaining applications so much easier. This is due to the fact that distinct functionalities process separately, allowing you to construct applications step by step at first and then work on each part separately subsequently (so you can add, improve, or fix without risking breaking the entire application).
Microservices are especially valuable for larger organizations since they allow teams to work on various items without having to coordinate their efforts.
Monolith
To comprehend why a microservice design is advantageous to software engineers, we must first know the monolith. Instead of delegating separate duties to different self-contained services, a monolithic application handles all of the application’s functions using a single program. While it may seem logical to begin constructing an application in this manner — why create many programs to manage? — As the capability and complexity of their application expands, adherents to the monolith will run into problems. It’s tough to program and deploy updates, keep track of changes, spot problems, delegate work to developers, and understand the code when everything is crammed into one program. In other words, everything inside the monolith is so intertwined that it can be difficult to unravel. As a result, a new sort of architecture was required, resulting in the rise of microservices.
Monolith Vs. Microservice
To understand one part of the software, a developer does not need to grasp the complete system design. Microservices are used to specify the boundaries between developer roles. Instead of being assigned to a vague monolith, DevOps teams can be assigned to one or more microservices. Individual services can be updated without having to change the entire system in a microservice application. This saves time, money, and effort in debugging. It also allows for rolling updates rather than one-time large changes. If a team wants to construct a service in a specific way (for example, using a different language or framework), they don’t have to worry about how it will affect other components.
Microservices vs. API
Now coming to the main part, the difference between these topics:
Microservices are a web application architecture style in which the functionality is split up into small web services while APIs are the frameworks for interacting with a web application by developers.
Microservices and APIs are typically coupled together, despite their differences, because services within a microservice use APIs to communicate with one another. A private API is used by one component of a microservice to access another component of the same microservice, similar to how an application utilizes a public API to interface with another application.
Each microservice has its own API that controls what kind of queries it can receive and how it answers. REST principles are usually followed by these APIs.
For the reasons stated above, microservices are currently a popular technique to develop online applications. To summarize, a microservice design allows building and working on particular sections of an application, and consequently the entire application, easier and faster.
APIs have a dual attraction for most businesses: they can be used to expose an application’s data and functionality to third parties, paving the way for sophisticated integrations, and they can also be used to communicate across microservices.
Public APIs have established themselves as legitimate commercial goods in recent years, owing to the fact that integrations boost consumer satisfaction and retention. APIs, on the other hand, can be directly monetized, making them all the more tempting as goods.
