Web APIs are a fundamental building block of modern web development, enabling applications to interact with each other and share data. In this course, you will learn the basics of web APIs, including RESTful architecture, HTTP, and JSON. You will also learn how to read and write API documentation and best practices for securing web APIs. No prior programming knowledge or experience is required for this course. By the end of the course, you will have a solid understanding of how web APIs work and how to interact with them using a variety of programming languages and tools.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Introduction to web APIs: What they are and why they're important
- RESTful architecture: Understanding the principles behind RESTful APIs
- HTTP and request/response cycles: How web APIs communicate with clients
- JSON: An overview of the most common data format used by web APIs
- API documentation: How to read and write documentation for web APIs
- Authentication and security: Best practices for securing web APIs
- Versioning and backwards compatibility: How to handle changes to a web API over time
By the end of the course, students will have a solid understanding of the fundamental concepts behind web APIs and will be able to interact with them using python. This course is intended as a foundation for more advanced courses in web development, such as those focusing on specific frameworks like FastAPI, Flask, and Django.