Application programming interface
An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs.
Also known as: API
At a glance
Key signals
0% cross fields · reaches 0 more
- Computer Science
- Software Engineering
- Explanation
- Examples
- Misconception
- Sourced relations 2
- Attribution
Dependencies
What this concept builds on and what it makes possible — derived from the atlas’s dependency, causal and structural relations, not from every related edge.
System context
Application programming interfaceis aCommunication protocolEstablished
application programming interface is a kind of communication protocol.
Mechanism: An API is a communication protocol: it fixes the rules and formats by which one program requests services from another.
- Wikidata verifiedmoderate evidence
Application programming interfaceis part ofSoftwareEstablished
application programming interface is part of software.
Mechanism: An API is the part of a piece of software that other programs use: a defined set of calls that expose its features without revealing its code.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Structural role & consequence
Interpreted from the current atlas graph — what the connections mean, not just how many there are.
Currently dark in the atlas: no key date stored · 2 of 2 of its relations lack claim-level evidence.
atlas representation · Describes the current Thinking OS representation, not the state of the world.
Structural neighbourhood: 2 → 8 → 37 concepts reachable within 3 hops.
structural · Structural reach — being reachable is not the same as being understood.
All 2 of its relationships stay within its own discipline — a field-specific concept in the current atlas.
structural · Structural graph analysis — not a claim of importance, causation or history.
cross-field
2 within-field, 0 cross-field
Strengths & constraints
Constraints
- Evidence coverage currently thin in the atlas — few of its relationships carry claim-level evidence. atlas representation
- No dated history stored — the atlas records no key date for this concept. atlas representation
Conditions
- Read structurally — most of its relationships carry no external evidence yet, so claims here are graph-derived. structural
Seen through each discipline
How this concept sits in each of its fields — derived from its real connections in the graph, not asserted.
Through this lens it connects to Software and Communication protocol.
Application programming interface through the Computer Science lens →
Through this lens it connects to Software.
Application programming interface through the Software Engineering lens →
Related ideas to explore
Concepts that look related but are not yet connected here — candidates for a connection to reason about, not established links.
This idea also appears in…
The same structure shows up in other disciplines. These are real recurrences drawn from the graph — a starting point for asking “what carries over, and what changes?”
Modularity7 disciplines · 8 concepts
Concepts
shares a mental model
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Mental models at work here
- Connects 2 other ideas across 2 disciplines.
- Most of its connections are of the “Kind & structure” kind.
- It exercises 1 reusable thinking pattern.
Derived from the graph’s real structure — observations, not a score.
Sources
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
- Wikidata verifiedmoderate evidence
- Hypermedia Driven Application Programming Interface for Learning Object Management (2018) verified
- Graphical UserI Interface Programming (2004) verified
- An application programming interface for multiscale shape-material modeling (2021) verified
- Input and Output Application Programming Interface for Plaid Standard Library (2014) verified