REST API

REST API. What is a REST API? Well,

think of REST API like a waiter at a

restaurant. You tell the waiter what you

want, they go to the kitchen, get it,

and bring it back to you. That's exactly

what a REST API does between your app

and a server. REST stands for

representational state transfer. Fancy

words that basically mean a simple way

for applications to talk to each other

over the internet. REST uses the same

HTTP methods you already know from web

browsing. Get to retrieve data like

asking show me all users. Post to create

something new like add this new user.

Put to update existing data and delete

to remove it. Let's say you're building

a social media app. When you want to

show user profiles, your app sends a get

request to something like

api.mmyapp.com/users/1

and boom, you get back all of J's

profile info in a nice, clean JSON

format. REST is stateless, means each

request is completely independent. The

server doesn't remember your previous

requests, which means it can handle

millions of users without getting

confused about who asked for what. Rest

is also platform independent. Your

iPhone app, Android app, web app, and

even your smart fridge can all talk to

the same REST API. But REST isn't formal

enough for your bank transfers and

enterprise systems. That's where SOAP

API comes in. SOAP API. SOAP or simple

SOAP API

object access protocol is one of the

oldest and most formal ways that systems

communicate with each other. If REST is

like a casual phone call, SOAP is more

like a formal business contract. Every

message must follow strict rules and

comes wrapped in XML with a very

specific structure, an envelope to wrap

everything, a header for metadata, and a

body that holds the actual request or

response. One of SOAP's strengths is

that it's protocol independent. While

it's most commonly used over HTTP or

HTTPS,

it can also run on SMTP, TCP, or other

protocols. And because it has built-in

standards for error handling, security,

and transaction support, SOAP is often

trusted in industries where reliability

and precision matter most. That's why

banks, healthcare providers, and

government systems still rely heavily on

SOAP today. For example, when you

transfer money between banks, there's a

good chance a SOAP API is working behind

the scenes, ensuring the transaction is

secure and correctly processed. SOAP

might not be as lightweight or flexible

as REST, but when you need guaranteed

delivery, strict contracts, and

enterprisegrade reliability, SOAP is the

go-to choice. GRPC API. Before we talk

gRPC API

about gRPC, let's step back to RPC or

remote procedure call. RPC is the idea

that instead of sending raw data over

the network, your app can directly call

a function on another machine as if it

were local. For example, you write get

user 123 in your code and behind the

scenes that request travels across the

network, runs on the server and returns

the result. But early RPC systems like

XML, RPC or JSON RPC had problems. They

were slower, textheavy and didn't scale

well for today's massive realtime apps.

That's where gRPC comes in. GRPC is

Google's higherformance modern take on

RPC. Think of it as the Formula 1 race

car of APIs built for speed,

performance, and precision. While REST

sends textbased JSON over HTTP, gRPC

uses protocol buffers or protobu, which

compress data into a compact binary

format that's lightning fast to process.

It's like the difference between mailing

a handwritten letter versus zipping all

your files and sending them instantly.

GRPC also takes advantage of HTTP2,

allowing multiple requests to run over a

single connection at the same time. And

here's the best part. GRPC supports four

powerful communication patterns. Simple

request response just like REST. Server

streaming for live updates, client

streaming for sending continuous data.

and birectional streaming where both

sides can chat at once in real time. The

performance gains are massive, often 7

to 10 times faster than rest in many

scenarios. That's why gRPC is the secret

weapon behind systems like Netflix,

Uber, and highfrequency trading

platforms. GraphQL API. GraphQL stands

GraphQL API

for graph query language, and it's about

to change how you think about APIs

forever. Created by Facebook, GraphQL is

the game-changing query language that's

revolutionizing how we fetch data.

Here's the problem that GraphQL solves.

In the case of REST APIs, you often get

too much or too little data. Need a

user's name and email? Rest might send

you their entire profile, address,

preferences, and shopping history.

That's called overfetching, and it

wastes bandwidth. Or worse, you might

need to make multiple API calls to get

everything you need. That's

underfetching.

GraphQL flips this completely. You write

one query asking for exactly what you

want, like just give me the username and

email, skip everything else. One end

point, one request, perfect data every

time. But the killer feature of GraphQL

is real-time subscriptions. Your app can

listen for live update automatically.

Plus, GraphQL is self-documenting with a

built-in playground where you can test

queries instantly. GitHub's entire API

is built on GraphQL. Shopify and

Pinterest all use GraphQL in production.

If you're building modern applications

where performance matters, users are on

mobile devices, and you want to give

front-end developers the flexibility to

request exactly what they need. GraphQL

might just be your new best friend. But

sometimes you don't just want to fetch

data, you want to be notified the

instant something changes. That's where

web hooks come in. Web Hook API. Imagine

WebHooks API

this. With most APIs, your app is like

someone constantly checking their

mailbox. You walk outside, open it, see

nothing, and walk back over and over

again. That's how traditional APIs work.

Your app has to ask the server every

time it wants to know if something new

happened. But web hooks flip that model

completely. Instead of you asking, the

API calls you. It's like the mailman

ringing your doorbell the moment a

letter arrives. Instant, direct, and

efficient. Let's see how it works. You

set up a callback URL in your

application. Whenever an event happens,

like a new payment, a code push, or a

form submission, the service sends a

post request with the event details

straight to your callback URL. No

polling, no wasted requests, just

real-time updates. That's why web hooks

are often called reverse APIs. Instead

of your app chasing the data, the data

comes chasing your app. You'll find web

hooks powering nearly every modern

application like GitHub fires web hooks

when new code is pushed. Shopify

triggers them when an order is placed.

Slack and Discord bots rely on web hooks

for commands and real-time reactions.

From automating workflows to keeping

systems instantly in sync, web hooks are

the invisible backbone of real time web

development. Websockets API. Websockets

WebSockets API

are like opening a permanent phone line

between your app and the server. Once

the connection is established, both

sides can talk to each other anytime

instantly. No more waiting for the

client to ask a question like with

traditional HTTP.

Here's how it works. It starts with a

handshake. Your browser sends a special

HTTP request saying, "Let's upgrade this

to a websocket connection." The server

agrees. They shake hands. And from that

point on, the channel stays open. This

gives you a persistent two-way

communication line, which is perfect for

real-time applications. Unlike regular

HTTP where the client always initiates,

websockets allow the server to push data

to you the moment something happens.

Think about getting a stock price

update, a chat message, or a game event

the instant it occurs. That's the power

of websockets. And it's flexible, too.

You can send plain text, JSON for

structured data, or even binary files

like images and videos. Web RTC API. Web

WebRTC API

RTC or Web Realtime Communication isn't

just a single API. It's a full framework

that enables direct peer-to-peer

communication between browsers or mobile

apps. And here's the magic. The data

doesn't need to flow through a central

server. That's why Web RTC powers things

like video calls, screen sharing, online

gaming, and instant file transfers. All

happening right inside your browser with

no extra software.

Think about your last Zoom or Google

Meet Call. When you're talking, your

video and audio are sent straight from

your device to the other person's

device. No server in the middle storing

or processing your private conversation.

It's direct and real time. Behind the

scenes, WebRTC takes care of the messy

networking details. It figures out NAT

traversal so devices can talk across

different networks. It automatically

negotiates the best audio and video

formats. And it uses adaptive bit rate

streaming, which means it constantly

adjusts quality depending on your

internet speed. The result, no server

bottlenecks, faster communication, and

smoother realtime experiences.

That's why WebRTC is the backbone of

modern video conferencing, realtime

collaboration tools, and peer-to-peer

apps.

Every Type of API Simply Explained in 9 Minutes!