Every complex computer program provides APIs using which developers can build their own application using that computer system as one of its building blocks. A developer does not need to know the inner workings of a computing system that he is using so long as the APIs are well documented. An API is essentially a promise by an application to deliver an output based on a given input.

As a standard communication protocol used to build complex web applications, APIs are the language of the internet. Web applications communicate by sending API requests and then processing the results for their own use.

For example if you wanted to display weather data for the last 30 days, you could simply make an API request to the OpenWeatherMap API service. Once your website has the weather data you can visualize the data on your website using the D3.JS library, which provides APIs for data visualization.

Most web APIs implement the REST API standard, which comprises of a URL and HTTP request methods associated with it - GET, POST, PUT. These APIs enable a modularized architecture which enables efficient communication.

VdoCipher provides APIs by which user websites receive OTP from our license server each time a video playback has to be authenticated. We also provide fully documented APIs using which customers can fully manage their video library.