6 Cool APIs for Your Next JavaScript Project
Introduction
The term API is an acronym which stands for “Application Programming Interface”.
You can think of an API like like ordering pizza. You can choose from a list of toppings and entries, you place the order — and #BOOM, a completed pizza is delivered. The pizza shop handles preparing the food and such. How it’s done isn’t your concern, so long as you get your pizza.
Similarly, an API lists a bunch of operations that developers can use, along with a description of what they do. The developer doesn’t necessarily need to know how, for example, an operating system builds and presents the data. They just need to know that it’s available for use in their app.
Now this isn’t a perfect metaphor, but it’s broadly accurate. APIs allow developers to save time by allowing the platform to handle all the nitty-gritty ish.
In this article, we will explore some useful APIs that we can use in our JavaScript projects. Let’s dive in.
1. The Poke’Api
The Poke API is a full RESTful API linked to an extensive database detailing everything about the Pokémon main game series. It covers everything from Pokémon to Berry Flavors.
You can check their website if you want to explore more about the API.
2. The Meal API
The meal API gives you access to random meal data to use it in your application. This API contains all the meal categories with images, ingredients, videos, the country of each meal, and many more features.
You can check their website if you want to explore more about the API.
3. The MovieDb API
This movie API gives you access to a list of movies, TV shows, actor images, and all the data about movies. This API is a system allows you to programmatically fetch and use data within that API.
You can check their website if you want to explore more about this fun API.
4. The Random Jokes API
The random jokes API allows you to fetch random jokes data in an easy way using Fetch, Ajax XHR, and etc.
You can check their website if you want to explore more about the API.
5. The Github Users API
The Github users API gives you access to a bunch of data about GitHub users like names, followers, images, and many more.
Here is their API URL:
https://api.github.com/users/This URL will give data about the first 30 Github users. But if you want to get access to a specific user’s information, you will have to add the Github username of that specific user at the end of the URL. Example below (not a real user).
https://api.github.com/users/some-developer6. Breaking Bad Quotes API
The breaking bad quotes API is also a free API to retrieve some quotes from Breaking Bad. It gives you access to the quote and its author.
You can check their website if you want to explore more about this useful API.
API Testing tools
There’s many API testing tools available for developers. One on my favorite is Postman. It’s free.
Conclusion
As a developer, using APIs can give you a lot of benefits and save you a lot of time. I hope you enjoy this list of simple & fun APIs you can use on your next JavaScript project.
Thank you for reading, I hope you found it useful!