By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
A blockchain API is an application programming interface that allows developers to interact with a blockchain. By using a blockchain API, developers can access the data and functionality of a blockchain without having to build their own blockchain platform. BNB Smart Chain offers several API services to accomodate developers to the fullest. In this lesson, we outline some of the API providers as well.
BNB chain API services are web services that allow developers to access and interact with data from the BNB chain network, such as accounts, transactions, blocks, tokens, contracts and more. BNB chain consists of two parallel blockchains: BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain. BNB Beacon Chain is a fast and secure decentralized exchange platform, while BNB Smart Chain is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that is compatible with Ethereum.
There are different types of BNB Chain API services, such as:
HTTP API: This is a RESTful API that provides access to a BNB chain node deployment and related data services. It supports various methods for querying account information, transaction details, token balances, contract interactions and more.
WebSocket API: This is a real-time streaming API that provides access to BNB chain events and updates. It supports various topics for subscribing to new blocks, transactions, orders, trades and more.
RPC API: This is a JSON-RPC API that provides access to the core functionality of a BNB chain node. It supports various methods for sending transactions, querying blockchain state, subscribing to events and more.
SDK: This is a software development kit that provides various libraries and tools for integrating with BNB chain APIs in different programming languages, such as JavaScript, Java, Python and more.
Some of the popular providers of API services for BNB Chain are:
BSCScan API: BSCScan is a blockchain explorer that provides several API services for developers to interact with the BNB Smart Chain. The APIs include account, transaction, contract, and token APIs, which allow developers to retrieve data from the BSC network and perform blockchain analytics. Refer here for offical API documentation.
Nodereal: This is a one-stop blockchain infrastructure and services provider that offers various solutions for BNB Chain, such as node service, validator service, application tools and APIs, and more. NodeReal’s MegaNode provides an instant, reliable, and secure infrastructure including RPC, API node, and archive node. NodeReal also supports BNB Chain’s core development and side chain implementation. Refer here for more details.
Ankr: Ankr is a web3 infrastructure and services provider that offers various solutions for BNB Chain, such as node service, validator service, application tools and APIs, and more. Ankr provides a remote procedure call service (RPC) that allows application developers and users to connect cloud nodes to 19 blockchains, including BNB Chain. Ankr also supports BNB Chain’s core development and side chain implementation. Ankr is a key infrastructure provider for the BNB Chain ecosystem and has contributed to various upgrades and innovations for BNB Chain. Refer here for more details.
Chainstack: Chainstack is a blockchain infrastructure and services provider that offers various solutions for BNB Chain, such as node service, archive service, application tools and APIs, and more. Chainstack provides fast and reliable BNB Chain RPC nodes and APIs that allow developers and users to interact with BNB Chain networks, such as mainnet and testnet. Chainstack also supports BNB Chain's ecosystem by integrating with various tools, apps and services that are used for building applications or enhancing returns. Some features of Chainstack as a service provider for BNB Chain are Elastic BNB Chain RPC nodes, BNB Chain archive nodes, Dedicated BNB Chain RPC nodes, and Chainstack Marketplace. Refer here for more details.
Refer here for a complete list of node and archive services provider.
In summary, BNB Chain provides several API services that developers can use to interact with the blockchain network and build decentralized applications. These API services offer various features, including data retrieval, transaction processing, contract interaction, and more, which make it easier for developers to build dApps on the BNB Smart Chain network.