🔐 API Authentication: understanding the foundations of modern security
Authentication is one of the most important pillars when designing any API. The video clearly and directly covers three widely used methods today, each with advantages and limitations depending on the context:
🧩 Basic Auth
The classic, simple method. It sends a username and password with every request. While easy to implement, it requires HTTPS to avoid exposing credentials.🎫 Bearer Tokens
The server issues an “opaque” token that works as a temporary pass. It’s easy to invalidate and manage, which is why it’s common in modern APIs.🚀 JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
Signed tokens that contain the data needed to validate the user without consulting a database on every request. They are ideal for distributed architectures, but require careful handling to avoid security risks.
🧠 In short#
Think of authentication as entering a building:
- Basic Auth → showing your ID every time you enter.
- Bearer Token → being given an access card that the guard checks against a list.
- JWT → the card already contains all your information and the guard only verifies it hasn’t been forged.
Each method changes how you “prove who you are” and how the system validates your identity.
