APIs Vs Middleware: Understanding Their Roles In Backend Development
APIs define app functionality, while middleware processes requests & responses internally. Think API as a waiter & middleware as the kitchen staff ensuring everything runs smoothly.
When working on backend development, two terms you’re bound to encounter are API and Middleware. While both play critical roles in application architecture, they serve very different purposes. Let’s break them down, compare their roles, and clarify their differences in a way that won’t make you want to flip your desk. What is an API? API stands for Application Programming Interface. It’s essentially a contract that allows different software components to talk to each other. Think of it as the waiter at a restaurant: it takes your order (requests), delivers it to the kitchen (server...