An Application Programming Interface (API) is a system of structured communication. It lets an application get information from an external service or product using a set of commands. These commands and the information they produce are predictable and usually exhaustively documented.
Monolithic applications are built and deployed as a single unit. This is the traditional approach to creating applications: all modules are combined in one self-contained codebase. All developers work on the same codebase and are committed to a single development stack, including languages, libraries, tools, and everything else used to create the application. Changing any of these elements is a major challenge in a monolithic architecture. Any changes or fixes have the potential to cause problems for everyone involved.
Software drive businesses everywhere. We rely on software to automate, speed up, and increase efficiency to the processes that provide value to our businesses. At some point, you will be faced with the need to have software as a solution to a problem. At that moment, you will have to consider a simple question; do I build or buy software? Is it better to have the flexibility of owning the systems essential to my business, or do I opt for a tried and tested third-party provider?