What is this API anyway?

This day in age, everyone is talking about open source. API can be thought of as open source, but there are some differences. You often have to rely on others to perform functions that you aren’t able or permitted to perform, like say, opening a bank account or dunking if you’re a playmaker in basketball. It’s the same situation with virtually every software out there. It needs to put in a request to other software to perform actions it can’t accomplish. An alley-oop pass, if you will.