What are API specifications?

Some APIs follow strictly defined protocols. However, RESTful APIs follow an architectural style that was laid out by Roy Fielding in his doctoral dissertation. This means that there are general principles laid out that they follow, but there is not a strict protocol that they must adhere to. This balance between structure and flexibility has been a powerful concept and has contributed to the widespread adoption of this kind of API architecture. There is no such thing as a perfect solution, however, and this is no different. One of the benefits of SOAP APIs is that the structure must be specified following strict programmatic rules. This means that the API definition must be written in a way that computers can easily understand. This makes it easy to create a lot of general-purpose automation for these kinds of APIs. If a computer can understand the layout of an API, you can automatically generate some kinds of documentation, tests, and even code from that...