APIs for Beginners 2023 - How to use an API (Full Course / Tutorial)

What is an API? Learn all about APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) in this full tutorial for beginners. You will learn what APIs do, why APIs exist, and the many benefits of APIs. APIs are used all the time in programming and web development so it is important to understand how to use them.

You will also get hands-on experience with a few popular web APIs. As long as you know the absolute basics of coding and the web, you'll have no problem following along.

This course has been updated from a previous version.

🎥 Course created by Craig Dennis, Developer Educator at Twilio
🐦 Craig on Twitter: @craigsdennis

⭐️ Contents ⭐️
Unit 1 - What is an API
⌨️ Video 1 - Welcome (0:00:00)
⌨️ Video 2 - Defining Interface (0:04:50)
⌨️ Video 3 - Defining API (0:08:49)
⌨️ Video 4 - Remote APIs (0:13:59)
⌨️ Video 5 - How the web works (0:18:17)
⌨️ Video 6 - RESTful API Constraint Scavenger Hunt (0:23:21)

Unit 2 - Exploring APIs
⌨️ Video 1 - Exploring an API online (0:29:06)
⌨️ Video 2 - Using an API from the command line (0:45:01)
⌨️ Video 3 - You go Curl (0:56:20)
⌨️ Video 4 - Using tools to explore APIs (1:14:21)
⌨️ Video 5 - More tools for your API exploring toolbox (1:36:20)
⌨️ Video 6 - Using Helper Libraries (1:48:34)

Unit 3 - All Together Now
⌨️ Video 1 - Introducing the Project (2:15:30)
⌨️ Video 2 - Serverless (2:23:30)
⌨️ Video 3 - Writing a Server Side API (2:37:08)
⌨️ Video 4 - Fetching Results on the Client from our Server (2:56:54)
⌨️ Video 5 - Wrap Up (3:05:29)

🎉 Thanks to our Champion and Sponsor supporters:
👾 Nattira Maneerat
👾 Heather Wcislo
👾 Serhiy Kalinets
👾 Erdeniz Unvan
👾 Justin Hual
👾 Agustín Kussrow
👾 Otis Morgan

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[SelahadinJemal]

"Education isn't meant to be binged and because of this, I'll probably remind you quite a bit to take breaks." ~ The best quote I've heard today.

[magetaaaaaa]

I learned about this concept in school but it was only briefly covered in a database class and I never understood the point of it until my last job. They were manually configuring hundreds of appliance-type devices through their web UI's which took hours of work. One small change request was many more hours of work again. I realized that these appliances had an API and we were able to reduce hours of work into minutes by writing scripts that took a list of IP's and sent API commands to each device in the list. I did the same thing on another project and cut my estimated completion time in half.

As someone who is in IT but is not a developer, even I could see the enormous power and potential of the API. It opens the door to automation, which reduces human error dramatically. It also speeds up onboarding. I am looking forward to watching this course and learning more about API's and their other uses.

[keenoogodlike]

Best api course ever. I never saw any teachers make learning course enjoyable as much as Craig Dennis. He even teach people to take their time to relax and think.

[rheagalsim]

Absolutely love the tone and approach to this course, and thank you for making this free!

[Overlord_Rei]

Wow this video came up at the right time.. Thank you FCC.. And thank you Craig for making this a fun journey. You have done a really amazing job at not making this tutorial a boring one. I really loved the breaks and the things you did to keep the learning interesting throughout the video. I wish we had more trainers / teachers like you! You rock!

[tyt]

This is a big move of educational revolution. I have started my self study programming journey from fcc (from zero level) and right now I am in confidence level. THANKS A LOT the whole fcc org and god bless u all. From Burma..

[TheMakIraq]

I was assigned a task at my job to do some testing automation using APIs and this course was a huge help. Always try to find a real world problem or something to apply what you learn to for maximum advantage

[endtropi]

The teacher earns my attention from the first second. this video was recommended by youtube and i am so excited! I am learning python, and why not to take a course on api's by a great instructor? so excited! Your students and your family must be proud of you. I have take so many online courses, i have to say you have the best way of teaching. Thank you

[MrHoboninjapirate]

Hey everyone, unfortunately he is right about the Spotify page being different. Problem is, they've removed the ability to generate authentication tokens and curl statements in the browser and while still possible, it's a much more difficult process. I'd recommend just watching the Spotify part and then jumping in at the Twilio part.

[rjsehyl]

I want Craig Dennis to teach me all the hard things in life: explain clearly and positively, tell me that it's okay to pause, give yourself time, be patient - these are important steps in any new business👏👏👏

[yatharthshah]

Really excited for this one. Saw the first one more than 5 times and enjoyed it everytime. Love that it is once again being refreshed.

[sanyamjain]

This educator immediately reminds me of my favourite teacher of all time. I was 14 in 9th grade in New Delhi, and the teacher was Mr Atri and he taught us Mathematics. An absolutely brilliant man, and an amazingly intriguing teacher who taught me mathematical concepts, that I still remember to this day, and I'm almost 35 years old now.

[pitchblack]

I really love this man's energy he makes learning not feel cumbersome at all

[Amd]

for those wondering what was that on 10:22:

it's in ruby language,
chr(ord('y') ^ 0x20):

1. ord('y') : The `ord` method in Ruby returns the ASCII code of the character passed to it. In this case, `ord('y')` returns the ASCII code for the character 'y', which is 121.

2. 0x20 : This represents the hexadecimal value 20, which is equivalent to 32 in decimal.

3. `^` (XOR operator): The XOR (exclusive OR) operator performs a bitwise XOR operation on the binary representations of two numbers.

4. ord('y') ^ 0x20 This bitwise XOR operation is performed between the ASCII code of 'y' (121 in decimal) and 32. The result is 89.

5. chr(89): The `chr` method in Ruby converts an ASCII code to its corresponding character. In this case, `chr(89)` returns the character with the ASCII code 89, which is 'Y'.

So, the overall expression `chr(ord('y') ^ 0x20)` takes the character 'y', performs a bitwise XOR with 32, resulting in the ASCII code 89, and then converts that ASCII code back to the character 'Y'.

[nateruttinger]

Absolutely love the energy, wonderful instructor!! Thank you all so much for the free knowledge ❤

[borisvorobjev]

Your style of delivering the material is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for your hard work!

[all_tutorials]

This is excellent. I followed through from start till finish nobody could make developing and programming easier than this beautiful piece of tutorial. Thank you for your sincere effort to helping others. I will watch over and over until I am able to independently build APIs and consume same.

[JustPerfectDesigns]

Is this the best teacher I've ever come across? 🤔
Yes it definitely is! I love this man. Made learning so funful and enjoyable. You just can't skip any part. I rewind when I miss a single statement. Thanks a bunch for letting him teach. ❤

[azaniastudios]

This course has been an incredibly fruitful experience for me, and I can confidently say that it's one of the best things I've ever done in my life. As someone who has been programming for almost a decade, gaining a deep understanding of how APIs work has taken my skills to a whole new level.

I'm truly grateful to have had the opportunity to take this course, and I want to express my appreciation to those who made it possible. This is exactly how education should be: interactive, engaging, and straight to the point. The practical, hands-on approach of the course has allowed me to learn and apply new concepts quickly and effectively, and I'm confident that the knowledge I've gained will prove invaluable in my future endeavors. Thank you again for creating such a fantastic learning experience.

[codewithguillaume]

Wow this is the kind of teacher that inspires me the most! Thank you