APIs - paper 2

Question 1

what are APIs

Answer 1

an application programming interface is a set of functions and protocols that clients can use
- a server - side web API is a set of web services or web resources to enable programmers to build web applications
- mashups are multiple APIs

Question 2

limits of HTTP communication

Answer 2

• client has to request data from the server
• if too much time passes between between establishing a socket connection between client and web server, the server drops the connection to conserve its resources, and returns an error message

Question 3

web CRUD applications

Answer 3

NAME → HTTP request method → SQL command

Create → POST → INSERT
Retrieve → GET → SELECT
Update → PUT → UPDATE
Delete → DELETE → DELETE

Question 4

what is REST

Answer 4

Representational State Transfer is an architectural style which determines how systems communicate with each other

• typically REST uses HTTP request methods to interact with online databases

Question 5

examples of APIs

Answer 5

JSON - similar to python dictionary
XML - similar format to html files

Question 6

advantages of JSON

Answer 6

• more compact so requires less storage, so quicker to transmit and process
• easier to read, write, and maintain
• data clearly defined as objects

Question 7

disadvantages of JSON

Answer 7

• only works with a limited range of data types

Question 8

advantages of XML

Answer 8

• any data type allowed, so more flexible

Question 9

disadvantages of XML

Answer 9

expensive use of tags makes it hard to follow

Question 10

describe what thin- client computing is

Answer 10

• processing is carried out on a server