Without APIs, most software would cease to exist. In this course, you’ll learn about the importance of APIs and the move towards cloud-based web services. You'll explore use cases, how they are used for modeling behavior, and how to create a use case diagram. You’ll then examine the differences between common API use cases and public APIs and web services that can be consumed. Next, you’ll learn how to use a weather service web API and examine common API issues when developing and using APIs. You’ll then explore API lifecycle management, and cloud-based APIs and their importance to developers. Lastly, you’ll learn API development skills, characteristics that make a good API, and modern trends in API design.