Presentation
Tutorial
API is the acronym of Application Programming Interface. It is a
computing interface that software uses to access data, server
software or other applications. It can be used on web-based systems,
operating systems, database systems & computer hardware.
These notions may seem a bit abstract if one is not familiar with these processes. Here is an example that may help you visualize the concept better. (example: youtube video in source) : When you go to the restaurant, the waiter brings you a menu from which you can choose among the dishes the one that seems the most tempting to you. Then, the waiter will inform the cooks of your choice who will provide you order. Few minutes later your plate is coming & you're ready to eat it! You're not interested in all the process that led to provide your plate. Your only concern is about what of the french fries or chicken will you eat at first.
An API will use the same process. It can connect 2 applications between them & let them autonomously communicate to provide us the result of what we were looking for. We don't really care about how it does it: we are only interested in the result.
Here some sources to know more about API & go further in the explanations :
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7wmiS2mSXY&feature=youtu.be
Wikipédia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API
Towardsdatascience : https://towardsdatascience.com/what-is-an-api-and-how-does-it-work-1dccd7a8219e
These notions may seem a bit abstract if one is not familiar with these processes. Here is an example that may help you visualize the concept better. (example: youtube video in source) : When you go to the restaurant, the waiter brings you a menu from which you can choose among the dishes the one that seems the most tempting to you. Then, the waiter will inform the cooks of your choice who will provide you order. Few minutes later your plate is coming & you're ready to eat it! You're not interested in all the process that led to provide your plate. Your only concern is about what of the french fries or chicken will you eat at first.
An API will use the same process. It can connect 2 applications between them & let them autonomously communicate to provide us the result of what we were looking for. We don't really care about how it does it: we are only interested in the result.
Here some sources to know more about API & go further in the explanations :
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7wmiS2mSXY&feature=youtu.be
Wikipédia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API
Towardsdatascience : https://towardsdatascience.com/what-is-an-api-and-how-does-it-work-1dccd7a8219e
Stay connected project:
Not always easy to work together on a document. Often we set up google drives so that we can all modify the same folder at the same time, and that all users receive these updates in real time. But unfortunately we can't know when an individual has made an update in real time. In this case we have to go on the google drive tand see what changes we missed, and it can sometimes be uncomfortable to check several times. in one day if the long awaited changes have been made... But now you can avoid wasting your time! Thanks to the tutorial below, you will be able to directly receive an email when someone updates a folder in google drive. I let you discover the very easy steps to follow to get there, in 5 min chrono !API Zapier:
https://zapier.com/shared/7220d6da36acf9f85f7dc0f0fba6aa2aef357ae2
1st part : Connect your google account to Zapier
- Log in or sign in in Zapier : new account is free!
- Then click on "Make a zap"
- Choose the app you want to work with : in our case : google drive
- Select an event in the dropdown bar : "Updated file"
- Click on "continue"
- Connect your google account into Zapier
- Select the file you want to work on
- Click on "continue"
- Check your work by doing the Zapier test
- Congrats : it's working!
- Choose the app you want to connect your 1st app : in our case : gmail.
- Select an event : "send email"
- Complete the different sections : receiver, subject, body type, etc...
- In the section "body" : write the message you want to be read by the receiver
- Check your work by doing the Zapier test
- Congrats : it's working!
