How to use REST API's

Question

I know some basic programming languages but im new at using API's.

Can someone please explain how, or where do i run my API's codes?

Will the API's be run on the website i'm trying to get my data from or can it be run on a client or from another different running environment or platform?

Answer 1

Apis should only (I say "should" because I am not sure that something like this can be done on the client side) to run on the server.

when you get information from an api you are not executing it on the client. you are only getting the data you requested for the endpoints you used.

Answer 2

Do you plan to use REST APIs as a consumer or producer? That is, do you want to expose your data, systems and processes as resources for an end consumer, or do you want to be the consumer creating applications that leverage services?

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The Producer

To produce REST APIs, you'll need to run your API providers using a web server. Just about any web server will do, so long as it can map resource paths to functions. Some common ones are:

• Node.JS with Express.js
• Nginx with Python/Flask
• Java using Spring

You should be able to run whatever you chose on nearly any hosting provider, cloud VM or wherever else you usually run websites.

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The Consumer

You can use Rest APIs anywhere you have network connectivity. You'll find this commonly in mobile applications, web applications, IoT devices, etc where data are combined from multiple providers on to a single application for end users. The key feature as a consumer you'll be looking for is a directory of API providers from which you can build your application.

ProgrammableWeb maintains one such list.