Whether you’re a seasoned developer, or just getting your chops, APIs can be a great way to quickly move your app idea from the drawing board and onto the world’s devices.In case you don’t already know, API stands for “application programming interface.” APIs govern how one application can talk to another, and are largely how data gets shared across the web. They enable developers to “piggyback” on the offerings of another service (like when a non-Google app shares a Google map with you).

API’s are a quick way to get and manipulate data from other web services for your app or site. It’s also common to create “mashups” using the overlapping data from multiple APIs (such as geospatial data) to create new functionality.
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