Web API vs REST API (Explained) - 4 Key Differences & Principle Architecture

Web API and REST API are two popular types of APIs that are often used to communicate with each other and share data and functionality. However, there are some key differences between the two that should be taken into account when deciding which type of API to use for your project. REST APIs are typically built on top of HTTP, using the standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) to expose resources and perform actions.

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Web API, on the other hand, is built on top of the ASP.NET platform and uses a different set of methods (primarily POST, GET, PUT, DELETE) to expose resources and perform actions. In this article, we will look at the main differences between the two. More on that later but first let's understand more about APIs.

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What is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of functions, tools, and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate with each other. This enables businesses to let their products and services interact with other products and services seamlessly, eliminating the need for a new connection infrastructure. The most commonly used APIs are private (internal use), partnered (specific), or public (third-party).

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Different categories of APIs allow programmers to fetch different features or data through a documented interface. Using an API can greatly simplify the process of integrating different software applications, and can make it much easier for businesses to take advantage of the latest technology.

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Benefits of APIs

APIs are a great way for businesses to save time and money by eliminating the need to develop new infrastructure or duplicate existing functionality. They can also help businesses to take advantage of the latest technology without having to invest in developing their own. In addition, APIs can help businesses in:

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1. Collaboration:

Integrating their platform and applications using APIs can help companies improve collaboration and communication between departments, eliminate information silos, and increase productivity and performance.

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2. Data monetisation:

Some companies offer free access to their APIs in order to build trust with relevant audiences (developers), but if an API provides access to confidential digital assets, it may be monetised by selling API keys. This allows companies to generate revenue from their APIs while still providing value to developers.

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3. Data security:

API management is key to ensuring the security of data and servers. This involves implementing API gateways and authenticating user traffic. Developers can further bolster security using tokens, signatures, and transport layer security (TLS) encryption.

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Introduction to REST APIs

REST, or Representational State Transfer, is an architectural style for creating web services. Unlike some popular beliefs, REST is not a Tool, Protocol, or Library. Instead, it is a way of accessing web services that use less processing power. REST APIs are based on the REST architecture and are sometimes called RESTful APIs.

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Principles of REST Architecture

Here are some crucial principles of REST architecture:

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• Stateless: Each request is independent of any other request, meaning that no information is shared between requests. This allows for scalability as each server can process each request independently.

• Cacheable: Data can be cached, meaning that it can be stored locally so that future requests for the same data can be served more quickly.

• Client-Server: There is a separation of concerns between the client (which makes requests) and the server (which processes requests and stores data). This allows for each component to be updated independently, without affecting the others.

• Layered System: The architecture is divided into layers, with each layer responsible for a specific task. This allows for flexibility and modularity, as each layer can be updated independently without affecting the others.

• Uniform Interface: The interface between the client and server is consistent, making it easy to develop and maintain. REST API follows the principles that establish a consistent interface and does not allow for self-contained or multiple interfaces per API. It is recommended that one interface should be distributed through hypermedia connections.

• Code on Demand (optional): Servers can send code to clients to execute, providing more flexibility. This is not a requirement of REST, but can be useful in certain situations.

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Benefits of REST API

There are plethora of benefits of using a REST API. Some of these include:

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1. Ease of use:

REST API is a simple yet powerful way to manage complex applications. It is flexible and can be easily integrated with other technologies and frameworks. REST API is also scalable and can be used to manage high loads using an HTTP proxy server.

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2. Performance:

REST API is much faster than traditional web services. This is because REST API uses less bandwidth and can be easily cached.

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3. Security:

REST API is more secure than traditional web services since it uses SSL encryption for data transmission. In addition, REST API can also be used to implement security using tokens, signatures, and transport layer security (TLS) encryption.

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4. Adaptability: 

With REST API,  you can easily transfer data from one server to another. By depending encodes to a certain extent, you can synchronize data within websites without any issue. REST API also allows you to access and modify data in a database from both front-end and back-end servers that are hosted on different servers. This makes it a convenient tool for developing web applications.

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Introduction to Web API

Web APIs are the perfect way to develop powerful web applications that can easily provide a great user experience. With Web API, various protocols such as caching, versioning, headers, and content formats can be easily implemented. This makes it possible for a wide range of clients including browsers, mobile devices, and tablets to access data over the web using HTTP.

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Benefits of Web API

There are many benefits of using a Web API. Some of these include:

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1. Business: 

With  Web APIs, you can take advantage of open source code to help reduce data complexity and business logic centralisation. The Web API Controller pattern is also easy to understand and maintain, making it a good choice for your development needs. Plus, because it is part of the ASP.Net Development framework, there are no other dependencies required for deployment or development.

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2. Technical:

Developing with Web API is simple and does not require any tedious configuration. It also supports MVC features like filters, model binders, controllers, action results, and routing for dependency injection, making it more robust. Additionally, it provides support for OData and uses URLs to identify information resources.

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Finally, it comes with message headers that are extremely descriptive and meaningful. Now that we know about the benefits of the two, let’s take a look at some of the key differences between REST API and Web API.

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Web API vs REST API: 4 Key Differences:

Here are the key differences between Web API and REST API:

1. Protocol:

With the Web API, you can communicate with clients through either the HTTP or HTTPS protocol.  All communication in the REST API, however, is only supported through HTTP. This means that you can't use the REST API to reach clients through HTTPS.

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2. Formats:

Web API can automatically convert request and response data into various formats, including JSON, XML, BSON, and url-encoded data. This makes it easy to work with data in the format that is most convenient for you. On the other hand, the REST API only supports the JSON data format and is, therefore, less flexible.

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3. Design:

When it comes to design, the Web API is much more flexible than the REST API. This is because the Web API uses a model-view-controller (MVC) architecture that allows for a better separation of concerns. The REST API, on the other hand, relies on a resources approach which can make it more difficult to maintain and test.

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4. Support:

Both Web API and REST API  can be hosted on IIS as long as the IIS server supports XML requests. REST API has to follow standardized XML requests, while Web API does not have this requirement. Besides  IIS, Web API can also be hosted on other web servers that support XML and JSON requests.

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Conclusion:

In conclusion, both Web API and REST API have their own benefits that make them ideal for different situations. If you need to develop a web application that is easy to maintain and test, then you should use the Web API. On the other hand, if you need more flexibility in terms of data formats and protocols, then the REST API might be a better choice. Extracting complex data from a diverse set of data sources, such as REST APIs, can be a challenging task. However, Boltic makes it easy to get the data you need from these sources. 

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With its powerful extraction capabilities, Boltic can quickly and easily retrieve the data you need from a variety of sources. In addition, Boltic's Native REST API Connector provides an easy way to integrate data from custom and non-native sources. Boltic supports REST API as both an integration and destination, meaning you can send data from REST API to any supported source, or send data from any supported source to REST API. Best of all, this service is free to use with our freemium service.

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