A Day One Understanding of APIs, SDKs, And API Documentation

For someone just getting into the world of developers, APIs, and SDKs, this piece explains things simply without being too overwhelming.

What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is the middleperson that helps two applications communicate.

Let's say you're hungry and head to a restaurant:

You (the user) ask/request for a meal. The kitchen (the server) makes it. But you don’t shout into the kitchen because there's a waiter (the API) who takes your request and brings back the correct result/response (your meal).

That is exactly what APIs do. They take requests and return responses.

So APIs allow apps to “talk” to each other and share features like payments, maps, messaging, and login.

What is an SDK?

SDK stands for Software Development Kit. It is the complete toolbox developers use to build apps faster.

It includes:

• Tools

• Libraries

• Debuggers

• Documentation

• And even APIs

So APIs help software connect, while SDKs help software get built quickly, and often include APIs inside them.

Back to the restaurant analogy, a simple way to remember this is: SDK is the entire kitchen setup. It includes the waiter, the cooking utensils, the ingredients, recipe books, etc.

What is API/SDK Documentation?

API/SDK Documentation is now the written manual that explains:

• What the API/SDK does

• How to use it correctly

• What inputs are needed

• What outputs to expect

• What errors mean, etc

The documentation of all these is how:

• Developers learn, understand, get unstuck, and successfully use APIs and SDKs

• Businesses gain time and money

• People adopt technology

So even API/SDK documentations are also part of SDKs.

Quick Visual Summary

What's Next?

To explore APIs more practically, a Postman account would need to be created.

Postman is a popular tool used by technical writers and developers to:

• Test APIs.

• View responses

• Write documentation

So it's a type of Notion/Google Docs + VSCode specifically for APIs.