The term "API" is tricky. It stands for Application Programming Interface, but a lot of people seem to think it means “All Powerful Incantation.” You always see decision makers sigh in relief when they find out a product they’re looking at has an API, they’re not sure what it means but they know their developers will be able to do magic with it.
Trouble is, an API isn’t a single thing. It’s the classic elephant where blind men each get hold of a different part of the elephant… “It’s a snake!” “It’s a tree trunk!” “It’s a wall!” To front-end developers it’s a collection of resources. To a SysOps engineer it’s a firewall. To an engineer it’s an abstraction. And to an Information Security officer, it’s a big mess.