Getting started with Candescent APIs

Candescent APIs support some of the largest retailers, restaurants, and banks across the globe. They can power online ordering applications, handle user data within the cloud, recall historical transactions, manage restaurant menus, maintain your company's location, and more.

What is an API?

‍API stands for Application Programming Interface. In simpler terms, an API is an interface that allows you to communicate with another piece of technology to obtain or send information.

Here’s a helpful illustration:

An API works like a company’s help desk. If you have a problem, you contact the help desk support team. Then, you wait while they either find a solution for you or request more information. Once you have received what you need, you can take the necessary steps to fix your problem. The entire process is transactional; you either request or submit information.

Why Use APIs 

‍We live in an interconnected world in which data is abundant. You'll often want to access information from another service or company to integrate with your products with theirs. 

There are endless ways in which to use APIs but below are two examples of how APIs can enable us to do more. 
‍
‍Example One 
‍Perhaps you would like to build a concert ticket-purchasing blockchain application. Obtaining information about artists and their concert schedules is essential for an app like this one. Tracking down and contacting multiple artists or their agents is a cumbersome task. However, using an API developed by a company like StubMaster or Notify could provide this information without all the extra work, saving you time and resources. 

‍Example Two 
‍Imagine you are creating an ecommerce website that sells gourmet cupcakes. Your goal is for interested consumers to log into your site to purchase the goodies. However, you would rather focus on baking than worry about managing customer information. 

Thankfully, there are APIs available that can manage the customer identity for you. For example, customers could log in using their social media profiles. With the right API, you could pull their identity and information from those accounts and keep the cupcake-buying process moving smoothly. 

Signing Up

Before making your first API request, use the following steps to sign up:

  1. 1. Accessing the Candescent Developer Experience
    Open any browser page and go to https://developer.candescent.com/
  2. 2. Completing the Account Registration Process
    ‍    Click the Sign up button located in the top right corner of the screen.
  3. 3. Step Three: Confirming Your Email Address
    ‍    Access your email application and open the email from Candescent with the subject line “Welcome to Candescent's Developer Experience.” Confirm your email by clicking the link included in the welcome email.

Enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Enabling two-factor authentication is an important security measure to add an extra layer of security to protect sensitive information and online accounts. It is important to never rely on any single method maintaining security of your information. Two-factor authentication is an essential security tool.

Complete the following steps to enable two-factor authentication. Open any browser page and go to https://developer.candescent.com/. Click the Sign in button located in the top right corner of the screen.