Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) provide a documented pathway for accessing the features and functionality of third-party systems through a (typically) stable and controlled interface. By leveraging API’s effectively, a developer can quickly and easily integrate with or expand upon a preexisting external system.
API Integration Background
Prior to the widespread adoption of web-hosted REST/HTTP API’s, service-oriented architectures, and other supporting aspects, integrating with a third-party solution could be a mammoth undertaking. In the worst-case scenario, it could mean attempting to reverse-engineer a way to communicate with the system using disassemblers, packet sniffers, and similar tools. Often this would mean dealing directly with the solution’s inner workings, with no guarantees that its core business rules would be enforced should a developers’ code accidentally break them. Often the next update to the software being integrated with would break some or all of the integration, requiring hasty and sometimes extensive revisions.
Such is the developer’s world in the absence of a published API. And such is the importance of having, and being able to effectively use an API. What an API brings to the table is an officially supported, documented, (hopefully) stable, and (hopefully) safe roadmap for integrating with an external system. APIs provide access to a service through a consistent interface, regardless of the technology being adopted by the client
In our case, we at Doshii have a common interface into all of our POS, regardless of their underlying technologies, allowing Apps a re-usable communications layer to interface with POS systems.
Gone are the disassemblers and the packet sniffers, and the need for the developer to worry about any of the system’s business logic, security constraints, or other internal machinations. If the API is well-managed (not every API is), breaking changes should be a rare occurrence that comes only after plenty of warning. In essence, an API frees a developer to focus purely on their own solution and allows them to talk with external systems in a safe, secure, and maintainable way.
Modern Era
The importance of being able to understand and work with third-party API’s had only increased as technology has trended towards a more cloud-based, SaaS-oriented model. Even with small projects, giving users the option to authenticate using their Facebook, Google, or Twitter account is nearly a de rigueur requirement these days, with far deeper integrations hardly uncommon. And with a huge budget and a large team of world-class hackers maybe you could find your own way into the massive and extremely complicated systems operated by these top-tier technology companies. But why would you bother, when every one of these companies provides a public API supporting authentication (amongst a myriad of other things)? The only answer is that you wouldn’t, and it would be crazy to even try.
Instead, you would check the published API’s, and quickly discover that all three companies have authentication API’s standardized around something called OAuth2. And you would integrate using that, confident that your integration will be secure, stable, and maybe even flexible enough to accommodate any other OAuth2 provider out there. And after that, the sky’s the limit. Want to integrate with Slack? There’s an API for that. Or maybe Jira? There’s an API for that as well. Or maybe you just want to sell some stuff from Amazon or stream some cool music. All of that can be accomplished, and in every case, it’s accomplished by using a published webservice API. So, as we move into the modern era of distributed, cloud-based solutions, the answer to almost any question is “there’s an API for that”. Being able to navigate, understand, and leverage those API’s effectively is key.
With Doshii this means that:
- No matter how many businesses you connect with through Doshii, you only need to maintain one integration
- You can be sure of a stable Interface where any changes will be announced in advance and backward compatibility is of paramount importance
- Detailed documentation of an existing standardised connection
- Simplified process for development and integration
- An experienced API Development team available for support, consultation, and implementation
- Allow your development team to focus on product development rather than integration and maintenance
- You have confidence in a trusted, secure connection
- And a Dashboard to monitor all your integrations and help troubleshoot issues
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