How API Works
To describe how API works, I'm going to tell you a story about Alfred Perry Inman.
Before I dive into the story, let me mention that if you prefer a bit more technical understanding, see the What an API Is article. To gain a more intuitive understanding (rather than technical), the following story is for you.
Alfred Perry Inman (we'll just call him "Alfred") is an independent, creative type of person who wants to understand everything about everything — to use his understandings to reach whatever goals he would assign to himself.
During his formative years and his early adult life, that was his drive — to understand everything about everything. And he did do things with what he learned. Examples are organizing a poetry contest for elementary students and creating a teenagers' meeting hall at a vacant office that he talked the owner into donating for a few years.
Very driven, was Alfred. And very self-reliant.
One day, in his mid-20s, he realized he never was going to understand everything about everything. There wasn't enough time. Even with a dozen lifetimes, it would never be accomplished, he realized, because new information was constantly being created or uncovered.
Alfred shuffled about in his loose slippers for two whole days before he came to his first conclusion: It's more important to do all the things he wants to do than it is to understand everything about everything.
For someone as self-reliant as Alfred, this was a big step. But, how? How does a person do something without understanding everything about it?
He got dressed and went out and about to observe people, to see if maybe he would get some understanding about how to do something without first knowing everything about it.
He watched people order things at restaurants and drive-through fast food places. They put in an order and they get their food.
He watched people
- walk into stores to select what they want,
- drive up to a gas pump to fill their vehicle with fuel,
- change a thermostat to change the ambient temperature,
- step on the accelerator to make a car go faster, and
- click "send" to deliver an email.
All those things, Alfred concluded, are getting things done without understanding everything about it.
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Food can be obtained without knowing how to cook — put in your order and get food back.
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Merchandise can be selected without knowing how it's made or delivered or stocked — pick it up from the shelf and later on it gets replaced.
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Fuel can be obtained without knowing how it's distilled — start the pump and the fuel comes out.
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The ambient temperature can be changed without knowing anything about how heaters and air conditioners work — turn the thermostat and the temperature changes.
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The car can be made to go faster without knowing how an engine works — push the peddle and get speed.
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And email can be sent without knowing what or how the software works — click "send" and have it delivered.
After sufficient observation, Alfred had a mind-expanding realization. To get something done, give it to someone who knows how to do it! There's no need to understand how it's done, so long as the project can be described to someone who can deliver a done deal.
(That's similar to how software can be made to work. One program sends a request to another program and gets information back. Neither of the programs need to understand how the other works, so long as they understand how to talk to each other. The "talk to each other" is the "API" part.)
Alfred fairly danced in the air with his realization.
How easily he could get things done now! Decide what to do and find someone who can do it. All he really must understand are two things:
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What steps need to be done to accomplish a project.
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How to find someone for each individual step and explain what's needed.
Nothing else needs to be understood. Trade the time that would have been spent to understand everything for time to work out the next project.
So simple. When something needs to be done, request it of someone or something that will do it.
This article and another about what API is are the main content of a PDF document. Click this direct download link.
(This article first appeared in Possibilities ezine.)
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Will Bontrager
