Application Programming Interface (API) Common name used to
describe the interface a programmer uses to access a library.
Common 3D API's include OpenGL, Direct3D, QuickDraw3D,
Renderman, Glide, and there are dozens of other lesser known
ones. The two most popular real-time 3D API's these days are
OpenGL and Direct3D. Glide enjoyed a dominant but brief
popularity on the PC platform in the late 1990s.