Difference between API and Web Service:
- API (Application Programming Interface) is a software interface that permits two applications to interact directly with each other without any user intervention.
- Web service is a collection of some open protocols and standards which are used to exchange data between systems or applications. Now Let’s understand the differences between them.
Web services and APIs are two of these overlapping tech terms that often get confused. you would possibly have even heard these words used interchangeably, but are they even an equivalent thing?
Here is the answer:
An API is an interface that permits you to build on the data and functionality of potentially another application, while a web service is a network-based resource that fulfills a specific task.
Yes, they overlap on each other: all web services are APIs, but not all APIs are web services.
Contrary to what you would possibly think, APIs and web services aren’t mutually exclusive. One is a subset of the other: every web service is an API — since it exposes an application’s data and it’s functionality — but not every API is a web service. this is often because the definition of a web service is sort of restrictive when it involves implementation:
- Web services require a network. While APIs can be offline or online, web services must use a network.
- APIs are generally protocol agnostic. Web services usually use SOAP (but sometimes REST, UDDI, and XML-RPC), whereas APIs can use any protocols or design styles.
Some of the key differences are:
- API is used for any style of communication, whereas Web service is used for only REST, SOAP and XML-RPC for communication.
- API supports both HTTP and HTTPS protocol, whereas Web service supports only HTTP protocol.
- API supports XML and JSON, whereas Web service only supports XML.
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