terminology

I see this word in almost every cross service application these days. What exactly is an API key and what are its uses? Also, what is the difference between public and private API keys. What "exactly" an API key is used for depends very much on who issues it, and what services it's being used for. By and large, however, an API key is the name given to some form of secret token which is submitted alongside web service (or similar) requests in order to identify the origin of the request. The key may be included in some digest of the request content to further verify the origin and to prevent

What is the difference between a webservice and an API? Is the difference more than the protocol used to transfer data? thanks. Andrew Cholakian An API (Application Programming Interface) is the means by which third parties can write code that interfaces with other code. A Web Service is a type of API, one that almost always operates over HTTP (though some, like SOAP, can use alternate transports, like SMTP). The official W3C definition mentions that Web Services don't necessarily use HTTP, but this is almost always the case and is usually assumed unless mentioned otherwise. For examples of

I'm reading about functional programming and I've noticed that Pattern Matching is mentioned in many articles as one of the core features of functional languages. Can someone explain for a Java/C++/JavaScript developer what does it mean? Juliet Understanding pattern matching requires explaining three parts: Algebraic data types. What pattern matching is Why its awesome. Algebraic data types in a nutshell ML-like functional languages allow you define simple data types called "disjoint unions" or "algebraic data types". These data structures are simple containers, and can be recursively defined.

I know that in terms of several distributed techniques (such as RPC), the term "Marshaling" is used but don't understand how it differs from Serialization. Aren't they both transforming objects into series of bits? Related: What is Serialization? What is Object Marshalling? Jeffrey Hantin Marshaling and serialization are loosely synonymous in the context of remote procedure call, but semantically different as a matter of intent. In particular, marshaling is about getting parameters from here to there, while serialization is about copying structured data to or from a primitive form such as a