An Interview question every developer should know.
What’s the difference between Tokens and API keys?
We use API keys and tokens for authentication and authorization.
But they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics.
Tokens (like JWT - JSON Web Tokens):
Carries user context and permissions for authentication and authorization.
Encoded with a user ID, permissions, and expiration time, often in JWT format.
Critical for user-specific access, like accessing a user’s profile data in an e-commerce platform.
It is issued by an authentication server after user login and contains user-specific information.
API Key:
Primarily for identifying the application or the consumer making the API call.
They are long strings we pass in the header or as a query parameter in the API request.
You use API keys when access does not involve user context. For example, accessing a public API or service-to-service communication.
They are long-lived and created through the API provider’s platform or admin console.
In simple terms:
Tokens are for managing user sessions, permissions, and context.
API keys are for identifying applications.
Which one have you used the most? 每个开发人员都应该知道的面试问题。
API 密钥和令牌之间有什么区别?
我们使用 API 密钥和令牌进行身份验证和授权。
但它们有不同的用途,并具有不同的特性。
令牌(如 JWT - JSON Web Tokens):
携带用户上下文和权限进行身份验证和授权。
编码包含用户 ID、权限和过期时间,通常为 JWT 格式。
对于用户特定的访问非常重要,例如在电子商务平台中访问用户的个人资料数据。
它由认证服务器在用户登录后颁发,并包含用户特定的信息。
API 密钥:
主要用于识别进行 API 调用的应用程序或消费者。
它们是我们在 API 请求中作为标头或查询参数传递的长字符串。
当访问不涉及用户上下文时,可以使用 API 密钥。例如,访问公共 API 或服务到服务的通信。
它们是长期有效的,并且通过 API 提供商的平台或管理控制台创建。
简单来说:
API 密钥用于识别应用程序。
你使用过最多的是哪一个?