1990s Computing – Automated Hacks

The Birth of the Web’s “APIs” (1990–1994): Early HTTP Interfaces That Set Up Today’s AI Model APIs — Chapter 62

From HTTP/0.9’s minimalist request/response to early servers, browsers, and the first dynamic gateways, 1990–1994 created the web’s core interface patterns—patterns modern AI model APIs still rely on.

GraphQL and Client-Driven Data Fetching, Before APIs Had a Name (1990–1994) — Chapter 40

In the Web’s first years, “APIs” were often just URLs and forms hitting CGI scripts. Those primitive HTTP interfaces introduced a surprisingly modern idea: clients can influence what data they get back—an early ancestor of today’s client-driven data fetching and GraphQL-style thinking.