A completely automated data exchange between systems - This sounds simple on paper, but for many of our customers it is a challenge at first. This is exactly why we have focused on usability and modularity in our in-house developed API Bridge.
What exactly is the API Bridge?
Digital Creek API Bridge is a software solution for connecting records between multiple application programming interfaces (APIs for short). Imagine a CRM system that allows automatic insertion of data with an API.
In this case, however, the data comes from a provider that also provides an API for querying data sets. So how do you connect these two together? - This is exactly where our API Bridge comes into play!
It acts as a middleware solution between the two APIs so that data exchange between a vendor API and the CRM system can be automated.
How does this work now?
The API Bridge runs multiple Docker containers on a given server. Of these, two are responsible for running a queue and a custom queue management process in the background. This so-called daemon manages the queue and places custom jobs into it at certain intervals that involve data processing, synchronization, and/or data allocation. A typical scenario for daemon synchronization between APIs looks like this:
What are the advantages of the API Bridge?
Usability:
As mentioned above, the API Bridge was developed with a focus on simple and intuitive handling. Configuration and setup should be as user-friendly as possible.
Standardization:
Establishing a new standard is a daunting task and certain areas may be impossible. Nevertheless, we strive to provide a configuration interface that is standardized between all APIs and supports custom headers and authentication techniques for multiple requests like OAuth2. This configuration supports most APIs when it comes to basic data transfer purposes.
Modularity:
The API Bridge is a highly modular, API-configured module that contains the entirety of the data transfer side of the system. Individually configured modules can redefine just about any core aspect of API-based communication.
Automation:
The goal of the API Bridge is to automate the transfer of data between interfaces. This saves a lot of time and work, as the data no longer has to be migrated manually between the systems.
Portability:
At its core, our API Bridge leverages Laravel, Docker, and MariaDB along with several other modern technologies that provide for easy scaling and the ability to migrate to other IT environments. Thanks to Docker, the API Bridge will also run on almost any operating system and is easy and straightforward to set up.
Data Mapping and Migration:
Our API Bridge has a flexible data mapping engine that enables migration and mapping of large amounts of data between databases with different structures. This also allows data to be matched between different APIs and stored all in one dedicated location. The mapped data can also be used as another data source for updating another API.
So you see - the API Bridge is a small technical marvel, which is used in many IT environments and significantly simplifies work processes. We hope that this short article could give you a good overview and answer open questions!
