Understanding API Architectures: Web API vs. Minimal API – An In-Depth Comparison

Understanding API Architectures: Web
API vs. Minimal API – An In-Depth
Comparison
Introduction
Did you know that Twitter has numerous bots that utilize the Twitter API to interact with
users and perform automated tasks? Or how APIs are a big part of E-commerce for
operating functions like site search and currency conversion?
From websites that need to be authenticated by social media accounts to customer
integration to Amazon, all of these and more rely heavily on APIs.
To define, Application programming interfaces (APIs) enable an application to extract
functionality or data from another application or software to enhance its user experience
and functionality.
You may have heard of the terms Web API and Minimal API and wondered what's the
difference between Web API and Minimal API. Both are essential for developing
interactive and functional web applications and perform relatively similar tasks, but
some key features set them apart.

In this blog post, we will identify how each framework works differently, its benefits, and
its limitations so that you can better understand which one is right for your project.
First, let’s quickly look at what API is in detail and their types, and then we will compare
the Web API and Minimal API differences later in the blog.
What Is An API?
API stands for application programming
interface and is a software-to-software
interface that allows two different
applications to communicate and
interact with each other and offer
information and functionality without
user intervention.
It also allows software integrations as
they expose a few of an application’s
inside data that developers are using.
You can request information from
another closed-off application.
However, not all APIs are open meaning
free or publicly available; some of them
are private, which means they are only
accessible by approved developers.
What Is API Architecture?
API architecture is a process of developing software interfaces exposing backend data
and functionality for use in new applications. By using API architecture, developers can
create a whole ecosystem of applications that are reusable, modular, and ideal for
microservices.
It provides developers with methods and data formats to access the functionalities and
resources of a software system without having to understand its internal workings.

What Is The Purpose Of API?
Below are six main uses of APIs:
● Power integrations
● Adding new features
● Improving application performance and functionality
● To serve as a medium of communication between Microservices
● To connect the ecosystem — Consumer to Business and Business to
Business
● To examine applications’ data and the monetization potential of collected
data
Now before directly comparing Web API vs Minimal API, let's see what both frameworks
offer.
What Is Web API?
When an application delivers services to customers over the Internet, the service is
called a web service, and the API of this service is called Web API.
A Web API is a framework used for building HTTP services that can be consumed by
consumers on browsers, mobiles, iPhones, and tablets. It contains the features like
routing, controllers, action results, filters, model binders, IOC containers, or dependency
injection.
Web API is highly suitable for web browsers or web servers to provide services across
multiple devices and on distributed systems. Developers can build Web APIs by using
different technologies like .NET, Java, and others.
Features Of Web API
● Supports convention-based CRUD actions
● Accept header and HTTP status code responses
● Multiple text format support like JSON, XML, and more.
● Automatic support for OData
● Self-hosting or IIS Hosting support
● Developer friendly
● High scalability
● Superior security

● Easily manageable
Benefits Of Using Web API
Below are the top reasons for choosing Web APIs:
● Faster time to market
● Flexible enough for different project needs
● Provides necessary support from API management platforms
● Can build simple and functional HTTP services
● Allow easy configuration
● Easy to define, expose and consume
● Lightweight API architecture
● Ideal for devices with limited bandwidth
● Open source
● Reduces complexity for logic centralization
● Easy to maintain and comprehend
What Is Minimal API?
Minimal API has the minimal in it due to
the concept of minimalism in its code. It
is designed to develop HTTP APIs with
minimal dependencies, making it ideal
for microservices.
Furthermore, Minimal APIs are
considered to be lightweight alternatives
to web APIs. It has innovative features
and can easily handle various tasks like
routing, dependency injection, and
middleware configuration.
Benefits Of Using Minimal API
● Lightweight and faster compared to Web APIs
● Provide better customization and control of the structure of APIs
● Parameter binding to map parameters in the URL to different types or names
in your code

● Endpoint filter to validate parameters and support with logging management
in code
● Route Group Filters that offer filtering capabilities of route groups
● Request Delegate Factories to build reusable middleware components
● The streamlined syntax reduces the quantity and complexity of code required
to define API endpoints
● Speedy development
● Less boilerplate
● Ideal for prototyping and microservices
● Better performance due to lower overhead
● Lower barrier to entry
Web API VS Minimal API
When deciding which framework is best suited for your project, you'll need to consider
the following factors:
Simplicity:
Minimal APIs are simple and easy to use, whereas Web APIs are quite complex due to
their multiple functionalities.
Lightweight:
Due to minimal code, Minimal APIs are more lightweight for API development and are
ideal for small projects. On the other hand, Web APIs are a good choice for large projects
that require extreme functionalities.
Performance:
Both provide great performance; however, Minimal API is slightly better and faster than
Web APIs.
Feature Rich:
When it comes to adding advanced features like authentication, authorization, and
negotiation, it’s better to consider Web API instead of Minimal API.
Controller and Frameworks:

Web API offers external documentation and allows an application to later switch to
microservices, whereas Minimal API supports the style of implementation to make it
easy to follow and understand.
Summing Up Web API VS Minimal
API
Deciding between Web API vs Minimal API when building APIs depends on your project
requirements. As per the above comparison, it can be boiled down to the fact that they
both are great APIs for websites or applications but have different benefits.
Web APIs are solid and powerful and offer great features for developing large-scale
projects. Minimal APIs are great for lightweight and small-scale projects.
Armed with this knowledge, we hope you can make a more informed decision when
selecting an API for your project.
Build Your API Architecture With
Polyxer Systems
Polyxer Systems is a trusted software development company helping businesses with
next-generation solutions. We have a highly skilled team of developers that can help you
create secure and reliable APIs as per your project requirements.
To get started, contact our experts today!
Read More:
● Software Development Frameworks: Overview, Benefits, Key Considerations
● Software Development Trends 2023-2024: A Look into the Future

● How to Find and Hire the Right Offshore Software Development Company?
● Software Development Methodologies: Pros, Cons, & Use Cases

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