Webhook vs. API—what’s the distinction? As you turn into acquainted with SendGrid’s companies, and even these of many Web firms, you’ll see the time period “API” used so much. More and more, you may additionally see somebody point out a “webhook.”
At SendGrid, we’ve consciously made a distinction between the 2 in our documentation and any time we write or discuss our seven companies for simplifying e-mail. Right here’s how we break down the variations between webhooks and APIs.
Webhook vs API
What’s an API?
API stands for Software Programming Interface, however what does that actually imply? Quite than what it’s, I discover it simpler to speak about what APIs allow. APIs can share knowledge or performance. For instance, you would possibly use a locations API to search for eating places by location or title, pulling out numerous knowledge about every place. Then you definately would possibly mix that with a mapping API, utilizing it as an interface for displaying your knowledge.
Programmers who make a request to an API will then obtain a response. For instance, utilizing our Internet API to ship an e-mail, you’d go the e-mail contents with the request. If all goes effectively, you’ll obtain a response declaring success.
What’s a Webhook?
Typically folks name webhooks reverse APIs, however maybe extra precisely a webhook helps you to skip a step. With most APIs there’s a request adopted by a response. No request is required for a webhook, it simply sends the information when it’s obtainable.
To make use of a webhook, you register a URL with the corporate offering the service. That URL is a spot inside your utility that can settle for the information and do one thing with it. In some instances, you possibly can inform the supplier the conditions once you’d wish to obtain knowledge. Each time there’s one thing new, the webhook will ship it to your URL.
“Name Me When He’s Warmed Up”
Baseball managers might actually use webhooks. As the sport progresses, they usually wish to change pitchers. To do that requires the brand new pitcher to first heat up within the bullpen, which is normally over 300 ft from the group’s dugout. In the event you watch baseball on tv, you’ll usually see the supervisor decide up a cellphone within the dugout. He’s making a name to the bullpen to verify on the brand new pitcher.
- “Is he warmed up but?”
- “Not but”
Then he hangs up the cellphone. In a couple of minutes, he’ll should name once more. Programmers would name this polling and it’s process-intensive for either side. A webhook helps you to say, “name me when he’s warmed up.”
Examples of Webhooks vs APIs
SendGrid has two distinct webhooks associated to every course that e-mail flows:
- Occasion Webhook gives knowledge concerning the emails you ship, corresponding to bounces and when the recipient clicks a hyperlink.
- Inbound Parse Webhook permits your utility to obtain e-mail as quickly as a message is available in.
Some non-SendGrid webhooks:
Get began with webhooks
Now, all of the variations between a webhook vs API.
Now it’s time to start out doing one thing with these webhooks. Listed below are 4 issues you are able to do with webhooks, together with testing them in your native machine or connecting them to different companies.
