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Question 4 of 100
Basic API Testing
Beginner
Q4: What are the Key Types of APIs?
🗺️Core Concept
What are the Key Types of APIs?
Key Takeaways & Architecture Summary
- ✓Web/Remote APIs: REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC.
- ✓Library-Based APIs: Local programmatic contracts (npm, jar, DLLs).
- ✓Operating System APIs: System kernels (POSIX, Windows Win32 API).
Direct Answer Summary
APIs are classified into multiple scopes: Web APIs (network-dependent protocols like REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC), Operating System APIs (Win32, POSIX handling local resource orchestration), Database APIs (JDBC, ODBC standardizing query connectivity), and Library/Hardware APIs exposing specific code frameworks or hardware behaviors to developers.
⚠️ Senior Engineering Warning (Red Flag)
Avoid listing only REST and SOAP. Real-world applications rely on library bindings, operating system kernels, hardware interfaces, and database drivers (JDBC) which are all standard APIs.
💡 STAR Architectural Explanation & Pro Tip
Web APIs dominate modern cloud systems, facilitating decoupling. Library APIs operate locally in-memory, compiling directly into the final application binaries.
RestAssuredTest.java
Rest-Assured + Java# Terminal Curl representation of a Web API call
curl -X GET "https://api.careerraah.com/v1/jobs" -H "Accept: application/json"