application programming interface

software interface between computers and/or programs
Thing computer_science_term Q165194
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Summary

application programming interface is a computer science term[1]. It ranks in the top 1% of computer science term entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (18,608 views/month).[2]

Key Facts

  • Field of work: computer science[3], computer programming[4], software development[5]
  • Instance of: academic discipline[6], field of study[7]
  • Subclass of: computer interface[8], computing platform[9], communication protocol[10]
  • Has use: encapsulation[11]
  • Commons category: Application programming interfaces[12]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Application programming interfaces[13]
  • Facet of: computer science[14], software engineering[15], big data[16]
  • Described by source: Open Science Thesaurus[17]
  • Stack Exchange tag: https://stackoverflow.com/tags/api[18], https://or.stackexchange.com/tags/api[19]
  • Used by: programmer[20]
  • Has characteristic: type of API[21]
  • Short name: API[22]
  • Name: Application Programming Interface[23]
  • Exact match: http://purl.org/spar/fabio/ApplicationProgrammingInterface[24]

Why It Matters

application programming interface has Wikipedia articles in 30 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[25] It is known by 108 alternative names across languages and contexts.[26]

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [25] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [26] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). application programming interface. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/application-programming-interface
MLA “application programming interface.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 20 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/application-programming-interface.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_application-programming-interface_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{application programming interface}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/application-programming-interface}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-20}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): application programming interface — https://4ort.xyz/entity/application-programming-interface (retrieved 2026-10-20)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/application-programming-interface · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 5w ago · Ms040got · 2026-09-16 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Has characteristic → type of API
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Has characteristic: type of API"
  2. 19w ago · HelloImSteven · 2026-06-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Foldoc id → Application+Programming+Interface, Application+Program+Interface, API
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Foldoc id: Application+Program+Interface, import FOLDOC ID ([[:toollabs:editgroups/b/wikibase-cli/36ecd009bcfe7/|details]])"
  3. 22w ago · Twofivesixbot bot · 2026-05-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Instance of → —
    Has use → encapsulation
    Facet of → computer science, software engineering, big data
    Aliases → —
    + 9 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetclaim-update-qualifiers:1||1|4 */ Yso id: 27641, mv to monolingual text names on YSO statements"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.