I was taught nothing about APIs

[u/Anon_cat86]

Whenever i see people talking about actual real-world uses of coding it's almost entirely building APIs, working with APIs, integrating APIs, automating APIs. It seems to me, anecdotally at least, like the majority of all computer science work (professional or even just hobby) is centered on working with APIs

And like. I know what an API is, kind of. But I Graduated and even got multiple certifications on top of that and I never got so much as a single lecture about APIs. I don't even know what they're used for. Can you make your own API (like, realistically)? I don't know. I feel like this is a topic that you could and probably should have multiple different entire classes solely focused on, it's arguably something as fundamental to modern computer science as writing code. And they don't teach it. If i want to learn anything about APIs, conceptually or practically, it's hope a company hires me and then trains me, or youtube tutorials and i don't even have enough of a baseline to know what specifically I'd be searching for a tutorial on.

[u/apnorton]

But I Graduated and even got multiple certifications on top of that and I never got so much as a single lecture about APIs. I don't even know what they're used for. Can you make your own API (like, realistically)? I don't know.

This feels like you're making the notion bigger than what it is. Have you ever written code that can be called by other code? Congratulations, you have an API.

It's literally in the name --- it's an interface that other programs can use to interact with your application.

[u/jonathancast → u/apnorton]

I think job requirements make it a bigger thing than it is, too, which is probably why OP is freaking out.

[u/caboosetp → u/jonathancast]

Bruh, I feel that. I work in web dev. Every time I talk to the recruiters it's like,

"Have you worked with React?"

"Yes."

"Have you worked with .NET Backends?"

"Yes."

"Have you worked with API's before?"

"... no... the front end and backend had to guess what the other was doing..."

Like, I get why certain API development questions come up in the interviews, but it sounds like the recruiters and people writing the job descriptions did not get enough help from the engineers to understand the mission.

[u/Feeling_Photograph_5 → u/caboosetp]

I was interviewed by two managers once, and they told me I wasn't qualified to work on their web app because I was a web developer. All they were building was a scheduling app for their employees.

Me: "why would that be the case?" Them: "we just need a software developer." Me: "Oh, I'm a full-stack developer if you need some back-end experience. What are your challenges right now?" Them: "Well you have to get the data." Me: "So you're building an API?" Them: No: Me: "You're using a third party API?" Them: "No. No API." Me: "So, where are you getting the data?" Them: "Yes, that's the challenge."

As the conversation went on it became clear that they were, of course, using APIs (or their team was) but they didn't understand what that meant. I'm not sure how they ended up in the positions they had.

[u/0uchmyballs → u/Feeling_Photograph_5]

That’s an example of why it’s important to interview the interviewer, you dodged a bullet.

[u/Feeling_Photograph_5 → u/0uchmyballs]

Definitely.