An Application Programming Interface (API) is an interface through which a developer can allow one application to "talk" to another application, critically integrating separate applications without any potential disruption or miscommunication. When developing an application that interacts with other applications, it's vitally important that each application interacts through the API layer. Otherwise, the data may not be appropriately imported or exported, validated, or secured. Every application builds its specific API or methods of communication. Developers will need to learn about a given API to start using it. An API can provide a powerful way for developers to create an entire ecosystem of inter-related products like Adobe solutions or the Microsoft suite.