a set of programming tools that enables a program to communicate with another program or an operating system, and that helps software developers create their own applications (= pieces of software) (the abbreviation for ‘application programming interface’) 应用程序接口, 应用程式介面 ,应用程式设计介面 (全写为 application programming interface)The company is opening up its API so that outside developers can use it to build their own programs. 该公司将会开放应用程序接口,以便外部开发人员用以构建自己的程序。