Glossary
This section describes the terms used within this guide with emphasis on their meaning within Finastra.
API
An API is a set of definitions and communication protocols that allow communication between components of a system.
Finastra products publish many different types of API, such as JMS APIs, SOAP APIs, File APIs, Websockets APIs etc., however, the focus of this guide is Open APIs that use HTTP as a communication protocol and adhere to RESTful concepts.
CRUD
CRUD refers to Create, Read, Update, Delete and is used in the context of operations that can be performed against a resource or business object.
The CRUD operations are comparable to the following REST API operations: POST, GET, PUT, and DELETE.
Many Finastra products publish CRUD API operations to allow clients to capture and retrieve data stored in the product data store.
HAL
HAL refers to Hypertext Application Language and it is a standard convention for defining links to external resources within JSON or XML code, for example, if a client requests a resource such as a loan then the response might return a set of links in HAL format specifying how to obtain additional details of the resource.
HATEOS
HATEOS refers to Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State which is a style whereby API responses provide links that are related to the API requested by a client.
For example, a HATEOS-driven site provides information to clients that allow them to navigate a site’s resources dynamically by including hypermedia links with the responses.
JSON
JSON refers to JavaScript Object Notation which is a lightweight syntax that can be used to define business objects. It is seen as a more lightweight version of XML. JSON (or YAML) can be used to define Open APIs aligned with the OpenAPI specification.
Open API (with space)
An Open API refers to an API that is exposed to developers by a platform such as fusionfabric.cloud.
When an organization publishes a set of Open APIs they typically have the following attributes: Useful, Keep it Simple, Easy to Use, Consistent, Backward Compatible
OpenAPI (without space)
An OpenAPI refers to an API that adheres to the OpenAPI Specification standard, or Swagger Specification standard.
These OpenAPI standards describe the structure and syntax of the document, or code, that is used to describe RESTful APIs.
Finastra APIs are compliant with OAS 2 or OAS 3 where OAS is an abbreviation for ‘OpenAPI Specification’.
Operation (or Endpoint)
The operations, or endpoints, define the exposed capabilities of the API as operations against resources, such as:
GET /tradesto list all tradesPOST /tradesto create a new tradeGET /trades/{id}to read a trade
In this example, there are 3 endpoints, 2 operations named GET and POST, and 1 resource named trades
Partner API (or Private API or Product API)
A Partner API refers to an API that is exposed to partners primarily for the purposes of integrating systems.
Partner APIs are also referred to as Private APIs or Product APIs.
Typically a Partner API is coarser grained than an Open API since it is targeted at more generic integration use cases that typically provide a large set of business object fields as the API payload .
Partner APIs are not part of Finastra’s Open API strategy.
Partner APIs defined as a Swagger file are subject to the same Swagger Standards detailed in this guide.
Resource
A resource in a REST API is a business object associated with the business domain, such as trades, loans data or function.
REST
REST is short for Representational State Transfer and is an architectural concept for the provision of web services.
REST API
REST APIs are APIs that use HTTP protocol and adhere to RESTful principles.
Swagger file
A Swagger file is a description, in JSON or YAML format, of a REST API and its operations. For example an API might be named Micro-Loans and have operations such as Create Micro-Loan, Update Micro-Loan, Delete Micro-Loan.
Swagger file syntax aligns with the OpenAPI Specification which is available at OAS 2 or OAS 3 where OAS is an abbreviation for ‘OpenAPI Specification’.
YAML
YAML refers to “YAML Ain’t Markup Language”. YAML is a human-readable, space-sensitive syntax. YAML (or JSON) can be used to define Open APIs aligned with the OpenAPI specification.