API stands for application programming interface that allows software to communicate with each other. In addition, APIs can make a system or application send a request, and receive a response in a specified format.

APIs have various communication formats and protocols, such as REST (Representational State Transfer), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), and GraphQL. They can be used to access different types of resources, including data, web services, hardware, and more.

APIs serve as a link between applications and databases, as they are a bridge between applications that allows for data exchange.