Nowadays, the terms library and API are used interchangeably. There are many similarities between the two, but they are different in many aspects. Much like an API, a library also provides a collection of functions and classes that can be used as per your needs. The following are some pointers that will help you to distinguish between a library and an API:
- Libraries are generally specific to programming languages. For example, you cannot use the SciPy Python library if you are using a PHP programming environment. However, you can develop an API that uses SciPy and then consume the API using your PHP code.
- Developers do not have direct access to an API. APIs are consumed in different ways to how libraries are. Many APIs enforce some kind of authentication before a developer can actually use them. We do not see this very often when it...
