Rest API

Two words. Rest API. 

Rest is an acronym that stands for: Representational State Transfer. To put it simply, it’s a protocol that provides a blueprint for organizing data exchanges between machines across the vast landscape of the World Wide Web. Why “representation“? Because we adhere to guidelines in representing data. “State” because data mirrors the ever-evolving state of a system, encapsulating variables that change over time, such as stock market information. And “transfer” because this protocol facilitates the exchange of information. 

API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface, with “interface” being the operative term. It’s the digital gateway that enables internet users to interact, whether they’re human or machine. But why the need for such protocols? Picture a world without them, a digital Tower of Babel. Protocols are the glue holding the internet together, the guardians of order in the often chaotic realm of the World Wide Web. 

Let’s take a concrete example: Imagine you want to uncover the postal code of Cherrapunji, the renowned record-holder for the world’s highest rainfall. You can achieve this by simply entering its name into a website like worldpostalcode.com. The resulting webpage will pinpoint the postal code on a map, accompanied by relevant details like lat-long coordinates and neighboring postal codes. This seamless exchange of information is orchestrated by a protocol known as HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Any computer equipped with a web browser that ‘speaks’ HTTP can access the website as demonstrated, without any unforeseen hiccups. 

But what if your needs extend beyond mere manual inquiries? What if you’re dealing with a deluge of geo-tagged messages, seeking to decode their origins for continuous monitoring? In such cases, the manual approach becomes impractical. This is precisely where the Rest API emerges as a beacon of efficiency. A Rest API, accessed much like a webpage through a URL, responds to your questions with answers. It’s worth noting that sometimes, the answer might be a straightforward “I don’t know!” Each unique query corresponds to a specific URL template known as a Rest API endpoint, as illustrated here: https://app.zipcodebase.com/api/v1/code/city?apikey=YOUR-APIKEY&city=cherrapunji&state_name=meghalaya&country=in. 

Let’s unpack this URL, shall we? One notable distinction is “/code/city,” signaling its purpose as the endpoint for city-to-postal code queries. To formulate the URL with this endpoint, we provide parameters such as city, state_name, and country. Can you decipher the role of the “apikey” parameter? Hint: It’s a guardian of security. 

The response from a Rest API typically arrives in a format known as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), appearing something like this: