API and Library difference

Jan 1, 2010 at 1:02pm
anyone here really knows the difference between this two?
i've been googling for a while but still confuse on its difference.

i believe there are also lot of programmers out there that never really know the difference between the two. although we know that API means application programming interface.

if i understand it right, i think API is more of a wrapper to a library.
please correct me if i'm wrong.

-happy new year!
Jan 1, 2010 at 1:50pm
It is something like that.

A library is an implementation of an API.

That is, an API exists in a vaccuum -- it is nothing more than a blueprint, a definition of how things work. A library is the 'physical' (or 'electronic', or whatever) incarnation of an API -- it actually makes things work.

Unfortunately the terms tend to be used interchangeably. Oh well.

Hope this helps.
Jan 1, 2010 at 6:19pm
You can lend books from a library, not from an API.
Last edited on Jan 1, 2010 at 6:19pm
Jan 1, 2010 at 6:21pm
@magnificence7
do you have common sense?
Jan 1, 2010 at 6:40pm
Not only is that a bad joke, it's not even grammatically correct. You don't "lend from", you "lend to". You "borrow from".
Jan 1, 2010 at 8:52pm
anyone else have something to share? oh gotta go to sleep, its 4:50 am here. check you guys later.
Jan 2, 2010 at 8:48am
i guess no one is interested anymore. i'll mark this one as solved.
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