APIs for Beginners - 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.

⭐️ Course Contents ⭐️

⭐️ Unit 1 - What is an API
⌨️ Video 1 - Welcome (0:00:00)
⌨️ Video 2 - Defining Interface (0:03:57)
⌨️ Video 3 - Defining API (0:07:51)
⌨️ Video 4 - Remote APIs (0:12:55)
⌨️ Video 5 - How the web works (0:17:04)
⌨️ Video 6 - RESTful API Constraint Scavenger Hunt (0:22:00)

⭐️ Unit 2 - Exploring APIs
⌨️ Video 1 - Exploring an API online (0:27:36)
⌨️ Video 2 - Using an API from the command line (0:44:30)
⌨️ Video 3 - Using Postman to explore APIs (0:53:56)
⌨️ Video 4 - Please please Mr. Postman (1:03:33)
⌨️ Video 5 - Using Helper Libraries (JavaScript) (1:14:41)
⌨️ Video 6 - Using Helper Libraries (Python) (1:24:40)

⭐️ Unit 3 - Using APIs
⌨️ Video 1 - Introducing the project (1:34:18)
⌨️ Video 2 - Flask app (1:36:07)
⌨️ Video 3 - Dealing with API Limits (1:50:00)
⌨️ Video 4 - JavaScript Single Page Application (1:54:27)
⌨️ Video 5 - Moar JavaScript and Recap (2:07:53)
⌨️ Video 6 - Review (2:18:03)

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

[acow]

This guy's voice makes me feel like i'm being hugged. I can't remember if i've ever watched a more positive video.

[BiffBifford]

One hour into this video, and I have learned more about how to use APIs and Postman than I have with tons of other videos -- COMBINED! I can't see how video instruction can get better than this. All the money I have spent to learn this and actually understand it, and this video instructor provides the most precise explanation I have seen to date! EXCELLENT WORK!

[ITCoordinator-ngeo]

I am still at minute 17 in this course but I can't stop my self from going into the comments and stressing how extremely professional and well made with care and love this content is actually is. This way this material was produced and provided to us is super helpful and immersive. Thank you so much!

[sivachandan]

Some people are born to teach. This guys rocks

[abhishekshah]

Why can't every coding tutorial be like this? It was so fun and entertaining to watch those little animations.

[jamilxt]

That's how course should be made. The important thing is: we don't know when to take a break. We always learning and learning something new. But, taking a break from learning will help us more into thinking and processing the knowledge we've gained already. That's how it will remain long in your brain to use later. Instructor should think this what type of knowledge is perfect to deliver to the users depending on the user's level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). I liked the style of this course. The way instructor is describing, the way the animator portraying, the way they are recommending us to take a break. It's great. Thank you so much for providing us such a precious and great courses without any cost. Thank you so much.

[iovewhalien]

I attended my first hackathon this weekend and everyone kept mentioning APIs and I was so confused. As a CS major no one has ever really taught me what they are or how to use them so it’s embarrassing to ask my peers of professors for help when everyone else knows what they are. I’m glad I came across this video, I want to learn more about APIs so I can utilize them whenever I attend my next hackathon. So far this video has been super helpful, thank you for putting in so much effort into this!

[erectlocution]

Here I am, employed as a developer, watching a video that purports to be for beginners, and it's a great video so far. One of the things I love about approaches like this is that, especially for developers like me who just picked up some crap over time and am doing stuff with it, there are lots of fundamentals that slip through those autodidactic cracks. For instance, I _know_ what "statelessness" means generally, but then at around 23:30 Craig explains not only clearly but completely enough for the context--with no extraneous details.

Nice work.

[demotest]

There is so much thought process and hard work put in by the content creators! We need this kind of content more so that students feel more confident learning newer things! I have become a huge fan of the channel...hats off to you guys! Keep doing this great work!

[Megapastor]

I would go to school if Every Teacher was as FUN as this Guy. BEST TEACHER I ever came across! Any1 that dislikes this free video should be locked up!

[manasnagelia]

Man, this is the best API tutorial I've ever seen. I've watched many, many API tutorial, and nothing makes sense, and smashes a bunch of information in 5 minutes. This takes it slowly, and teaches API's in a gradual manner. Awesome tutorial! Bravo!

[austinedeclan]

This is starting to make sense.
An API is like a toaster. I don't have to build one every time I need toast

[TheJFMR]

He is so aligned with the present moment when he is explaining or when he is coding as Eckhart Tolle would say.
One of the best courses I've watched.

[Omar-vzel]

You guys make learning fun! The fact that you went over APIs in a broad sense and not just web-based really nailed home what an API really is. Wow!

[Itachi-lzkv]

This is easily the best course in this section. Hats of to this guy. Didnt feel like boring bombarment of information. Enjoyed every moment of it.

[steveisrome]

Whoever wrote the layout fo this coarse is a teaching genius. I wish I could express how perfect this guy/team is able to properly blend complexity with bite sized, meaningful information. Where do I buy whatever you are selling cause this kind of video/playlist deserves every dollar it gets

[kurtdnaldcbain]

One of the best courses I've ever watched. Very informative and well structured, but also entertaining!
Thank you for sharing this with us!

[hollyperret]

I'm an instructional designer and it is refreshing to see someone training a subject on yourtube the way training should be done.

[the_rhizome]

This is the best course I've ever watched in my life. The concepts are so clearly explained.

[dragonjarl]

Really good and clear tutorial. Well paced and explained. Just a note to a few people: when you get to the Twilio section, if your mobile number is based outside the US&Canada, the Twilio API will shift the MediaURL value into the BODY as plain text. It still gets sent by the API and received by the mobile device but is received as a link on the mobile device. Therefore the next stage when you try to GET the gif you have just sent will not work. Took me ages to work this out!
*** It would be really useful to add a flag / annotation to the video at this point so people outside North America do not think they have made a mistake and lose time / give up ***