Application and website, how to build a website API?

Question

Android

Everyone, good day!
I'm going to create a website, and then an android application to it. I plan to organize their interaction through the site's API. However, I don't know how to build it and on what basis. Please let me know what options are available. I would be very grateful for links to specific articles about this.
Thank you!

Answer 1

There are 2 options here:
1. First of all, create an API with which both the site and the application will work. But here it should be taken into account that the site will be much more difficult to do, because all the data will be pulled up by requests to the API after the page is loaded, and so on. In principle, for a SPA (single page application), or a site with complex front-end logic, this will have to be done anyway and this approach is preferable, but if your site is simple, this will only create inconvenience. Accordingly, to make such a site, a qualified front-end developer is also needed. In principle, this is the correct approach.
2. Make a website and a separate API. But here, as the complexity of the project grows, the costs of maintaining the site and api at the same time, taking into account differences in their logic, and so on, will increase.
I would start making the site separately, the API separately, because at the start it's faster. If the project will trample and there will be a need for complication, creating applications for other platforms, then slowly remade it into 1 option.
As far as technology is concerned, yes: REST is a good place to start, and most backend frameworks already have support for it. Most likely, and not only for starters, but again, it depends on the project.

Answer 2

REST API is easy