API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs allow different software applications to communicate with each other. The main goal of APIs is to make code reusable. There are different types of APIs including local APIs, program APIs, and web APIs. RESTful APIs use HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data, while SOAP APIs use XML and SOAP messaging to transfer data between applications in a standardized way. RESTful APIs are generally preferred over SOAP for internet usage due to using less bandwidth.