How I Accidentally Got Hooked on APIs Back in 2016
Back in 2016, I was just a regular 9th grader. My world was school, games, cricket, and hanging out with friends. I wasn’t exactly the "tech guy" in class. I wasn’t building apps or hacking stuff or anything like that. But something random happened that year which ended up sticking with me in a weirdly interesting way.
It started with my neighbor.
He had just come back from the U.S., working at some software company (at the time, I didn’t even know what developers really did). He’d always say things like “keep up with technology” or “everything is going digital.” One evening, during one of those casual conversations near our apartment gate, he said:
“If you want to learn something cool and useful, check out APIs. They’re the future.”
APIs? I had no clue what that was. I even thought I heard it wrong at first — like, was he saying IP or something? I asked him, “What is this API?”
He gave me the most chill, simple answer ever. He said:
“Think of it like a messenger. If one app wants to talk to another app, it uses an API. It's like a waiter in a restaurant — you don’t go to the kitchen, you just ask the waiter. That’s what APIs do between systems.”
That explanation? Somehow it clicked. It wasn’t super technical. It wasn’t confusing. It just made sense.
And honestly… that was it. I didn’t go deep into it immediately. But something about that idea stuck with me.
🧠 That Curiosity Kicked In…
Later that night, I opened mom's mobile and typed into Google:
“What is an API?”
I found so many pages, diagrams and all.. Some were too complicated, but the more I read, the more interesting it got. I found out that APIs are used everywhere — in apps, websites, services. Even when you click “Login with Google” on a random site, it’s an API working behind the scenes.
I started wondering:
Who created APIs? Which company first made it a big deal? How are they actually built? Can anyone make one?
The internet said that companies like Amazon, Salesforce, eBay, and later Google started making public APIs in the early 2000s. That’s when the API game really exploded — people could build apps that connected with bigger platforms, even without working at those companies.
I didn’t know how to build anything yet, but I liked the idea that software can talk to each other like people do — through a common language, with messengers passing data back and forth.
📱 Realizing APIs Are Everywhere
At first, APIs just seemed like a "developer thing." But then I started noticing them in my daily life:
- I booked a cab in Ola — that’s an API call to check for drivers nearby.
- I got an OTP from a bank — yep, that’s an API.
- I used Instagram filters — those pull effects through internal APIs.
- I opened Google Maps inside Swiggy — API again.
I was surrounded by APIs and didn’t even realize it.
Even when I asked Alexa to play music — there was an API connecting Alexa to Amazon Music or Spotify or whatever source I used.
Once I started seeing APIs like that, it was kind of fun — like discovering the hidden wiring behind all the apps I used daily.
🤖 Fast Forward to Now…
Now it’s 2025. I’ve seen how APIs are used not just in apps, but in AI tools, automation, smart homes, chatbots — you name it.
Today, if you’re building a new app, you’re not starting everything from scratch. You’re using APIs for payments (like Razorpay), location (Google Maps), chat (WhatsApp APIs), weather, currency exchange, you name it.
It’s become almost like plug-and-play for software.
Want to add something cool to your app? There’s probably an API for that.
💬 What I Think About It Now
Looking back, it’s kind of funny how one random chat with my neighbor made me curious enough to Google this three-letter word. I didn’t plan on learning about it — I just got curious, and that curiosity quietly stayed with me.
Even now, whenever I work on a project or explore tech stuff, APIs are always part of it. Not because they’re “the future” or “game-changing”… but because they’re just super useful and kind of awesome once you understand what they do.
And hey, if you're someone who hears "API" and thinks it sounds boring or complicated — I totally get you. I felt the same. But trust me, once you get the idea, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
Like magic, but nerdy.
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