How to test your API with Hoppscotch

In this article, I will show you how to interact with APIs by making requests while showing you some of the cool features of Hoppscotch.

Introduction to Hoppscotch

Hoppscotch is an online open-source API request builder built by Liyas Thomas and contributors that helps you create requests faster, saving precious time on development. It is lightweight, effective, and efficient,

Hoppscotch is a totally free open-source project.

Hoppscotch has a low processing demand because it can run simply on the browser.

Hoppscotch is supported by a wide range of browsers and devices, plus it can be installed as a PWA (Progressive Web App), making it even accessible.

Hoppscotch offers multiple features though, in this article, we shall focus on using it as a testing tool for APIs.

What is an API?

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface, a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. It is often a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components, operating systems, or microservices.

A great analog used to describe APIs and what they do is a restaurant. In this analogy, the following roles are assigned:

API: acts as the waiter that serves you.
Order: acts as the API Request, where data to be fetched or action to be triggered is specified.
Chef: acts as whatever external component you are trying to interact with, also provides the API.
Meal: data gotten from the external Component.

When you step into a restaurant, you inform the waiter (API) of your order (API request), and the waiter communicates your order to the Chef (external component). After a hopefully short period of time, the waiter returns with your meal (Data).

The same way a chef provides you with a waiter is the same way companies provide you with an API to communicate how you want to use their services & the data you need from them.

Now that you have a good idea of what APIs are and what they do, let’s dive into the basics of API using Hoppscotch.