Understanding API frameworks

Whether you are logging in to your email account, scrolling through social media, or even logging in to an online retailer, we use web applications on a daily basis to accomplish a variety of tasks. For example, imagine a user scrolling through an electronic laboratory notebook on their local computer. When the user logs in and sees their data, this information is retrieved using an API (that is, an application programming interface, not to be confused with an active pharmaceutical ingredient). Once the data is retrieved for the user in the backend, it populates the frontend in a beautiful User Interface (UI) that allows the user to interact with the data, make changes, and save it. We can use web applications and APIs in a variety of ways, such as transferring data, communicating with others, or even making predictions, as illustrated in Figure 11.1:

Figure 11.1 – Some examples of web application functionality

With all...