Blog - Reverse Engineering

What is an API?

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a bit like an interpreter between two different software programs. Imagine you have an app on your phone that shows the weather. This app gets its information from a large weather station somewhere on the internet. How do these two talk to each other? This is where the API comes in. It is a set of conventions and rules that says: "If you ask me in this specific way what the weather is like, I will give you that information in such and such a way."

Thanks to an API, the developers of your weather app can easily retrieve information from the weather station without having to know exactly how everything works on the weather station side. They only need to follow the rules of the API. This is super handy because it allows developers to build cool features into their apps by using data or services from other companies. For example, in addition to the weather, they can also include information about traffic, news updates, or even funny cat photos in their app, as long as they have access to an API that shares that data.

Why reverse engineering of websites?

Well, it's actually quite simple and very useful. Imagine you're a developer and you want to use certain information from a website on your own site, or you want to combine this info with other tools you use. APIs are super handy because they act as bridges between different pieces of software, allowing them to 'talk' to each other. With APIs, you can easily send data back and forth.

But not all websites give you access to their data just like that. Some don't have a public API, or they limit what you can do with it. And this is where reverse engineering comes in. By analyzing how a website works, you can figure out how to still get that oh-so-useful data, even if there is no public API available. This can be super handy for all sorts of projects, like analyzing large amounts of data (big data), training smart algorithms (machine learning), or simply displaying information in an organized way in a dashboard.

But that's not all. By understanding how a website works on the inside, you can also discover new ways to do things that you might have thought were impossible before. For example, you might discover how to recreate or improve a certain feature. In short, reverse engineering opens the door to a world of possibilities to build cool and useful applications that you might never have been able to make otherwise.

My Experiences

In practice, I have reverse engineered various websites and platforms, including Vattenfall, Eneco, Vliegtickets.nl, Softbee, Essent, Thuisbezorgd, Moving Intelligence and Bourguignon. I was able to learn more about the functionalities and data of these websites, and how I could integrate them into my clients' products and my own. These have been interesting and challenging experiences, and I have learned a lot about how to apply reverse engineering in an efficient and effective manner. These experiences have also given me valuable insights into the security and structure of web applications, allowing me to develop better and more secure software.

Conclusion

Reverse engineering websites and APIs is really a handy trick for people who make software, so they can take a look at how websites and apps work. It's like opening up a clock to see what's inside and how everything moves and works together. By doing this, you get a wealth of information about how to improve your own projects or how to use cool features from other sites in your own work.

This process helps you discover the secret recipes behind successful websites. For example, you learn how a particular site quickly retrieves information or how an app ensures that its users are safe online. With these insights, you can make your own software smarter, faster and more secure. Plus, it opens the door to new ideas. Maybe you'll find a way to create something completely new that no one else has thought of, or you'll come up with a smart solution to a problem that many people struggle with.

The beauty of reverse engineering is that it teaches you to think like a real tech detective. You not only learn the 'what' and the 'how', but also the 'why' behind the technology. This makes it easier to improve your own projects, because you have a deeper understanding of how everything works. In short, by learning from how other people solve problems, you can become a better developer yourself.