5Application Programming Interface

An application programming interface (API) specifies how software components interact with each other. In practice, an API is provided as a library that defines functions, data structures, object classes, constants, and variables. A well-designed API makes it easier to develop a program by providing the necessary building blocks. This chapter is devoted to describing the HDFql API and how to use it through practical examples in C, C++, Java, Python, C#, Fortran, R, and MATLAB.