| group | subgroup | title | menu_title | menu_order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
php-developer-guide |
99_Module Development |
Public interfaces & APIs |
Public interfaces & APIs |
3 |
A public interface is a set of code that third-party developers can call, implement, or build as a {% glossarytooltip 9fceecbe-31be-4e49-aac7-11d155a85382 %}plug-in{% endglossarytooltip %}. Magento guarantees that this code will not change in subsequent releases without a major version change.
Public interfaces for a {% glossarytooltip c1e4242b-1f1a-44c3-9d72-1d5b1435e142 %}module{% endglossarytooltip %} are marked with @api annotation.
{: .bs-callout .bs-callout-info }
Third-party developers should use only these interfaces, that is, interfaces with the @api annotation. You can use other interfaces but those may be modified or removed in subsequent Magento releases. For more information, see [Backward compatibility]({{ page.baseurl }}/contributor-guide/backward-compatible-development/).
An application programming interface (API) is a set of interfaces and their implementations that a module provides to other modules.
The following items are considered types of APIs:
- Directory structure
- Configuration files structure
- Events
- Client API
- Provider {% glossarytooltip 786086f2-622b-4007-97fe-2c19e5283035 %}API{% endglossarytooltip %} (SPI)
Directory structure and configuration file structure are types of APIs because {% glossarytooltip 55774db9-bf9d-40f3-83db-b10cc5ae3b68 %}extension{% endglossarytooltip %} developers use them. Developers write configurations, and place their {% glossarytooltip 363662cb-73f1-4347-a15e-2d2adabeb0c2 %}static files{% endglossarytooltip %} in specified folders; so if the configuration file structure or directory structure changes in subsequent releases, modules and extensions may break.