Whiteboard//Session: What is an API?

Not a day goes by when I don't see complex technical terms thrown around in media press or on blogs. I often wonder if the average marketer knows what half of these terms mean. This new series is aimed at graphically illustrating (this is where the whiteboard comes into play) complex terms in ways that normal, non-geek people can understand.

First up is the API. One of the core tenets of Web2.0 is the idea around "open APIs", you've no doubt heard it before. API stands for Application Programming Interface and is really pretty simple when you break it down. Here is my whiteboard video that explains the process.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• api
• marketing
• whiteboard
• explanation
• matt
• dickman
• techno//marketer
• open
• web2.0

[tiffmchase]

really good tutorials sometimes though it is hard to see the marker drawings on the board

[technomasta]

thank you very much for making this video! it really helped explain to me what API is

[coloradorein]

Fantastic, Matt. Please do more of these; I'm subscribed. I'm about to embark on creating a big niche site using technologies like these. Thanks for saving me embarrassment by letting me research the concepts here! Keep it up!

[msleetaylor30]

Hi Matt, Thank you for explaining api I have some understand now. I'm a real estate and I'm new to youtube. I wanted to know how do I upload a video to my personal website

Lee

[buckeyebabe99]

Great high level overview! I know enough to be dangerous :). Do you have a whiteboard session that explains how the tech guys get the API key and how they select the right key to be able to get the info marketers need?