CODEWITHSUNDEEP
api-design
codeKiller
codeKiller

Reputation: 5758

Where do APIs get their information from

After some time being working with Restful APIs I would like to know a bit more about their internal functionality.

I would like a simple explanation about how the API`s get access to the data that they provide as responses to our requests.

There are APIs, for example weather API`s or sports APIs that are capable to provide responses with very recent data (such as sports results), I am wondering where or how they get that updated info almost as soon as it is available.

I have seen here on SO questions with answers pointing to API design tutorials, but not to this particular topic.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2074

Answers (2)

Chrono
Chrono

Reputation: 1473

You could have a look at Stack Share to see what companies use for databases and whatnot. But there isn't a universal answer, every company uses whatever works for them.

This usually means that te company has its own database in which the data is stored. But they might also get their data from another company.

But a 'database' is not just SQL, maybe they use unstructured data or any of the other options to store data.

That's where the "whatever works" comes from. The company chooses a solution they go with which best fits their needs.

Upvotes: 1

Nikolai Tenev
Nikolai Tenev

Reputation: 475

An API is usually simply a facade (or an interface if you prefer) to some information resource. The idea behind it is to "hide" any complexity from the user, to unify several services to a single access point or even to keep the details about the implementation of the actual service a secret.

This being said you probably understand now that there can't be one definitive answer to the question "where do APIs get their info from?". But some common answers are:

  • other APIs
  • some proprietary/in-house developed service/database
  • etc.

For sports APIs - probably they are being provided by some sports media, which has the results as soon as they get out, so they just enter them in their DB and immediately they become available through their API. For weather forecasts - again as with the sports API they are probably provided by a company dealing with weather forecasts.

If it's easier for you you can think of the "read-only" APIs as rss feeds in a way. I hope this clears the things a bit for you.

Upvotes: 4

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