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Making API Requests
We provide the Query API for Amazon EC2, as well as software development kits (SDK) for Amazon Web Services (AWS) that enable you to access Amazon EC2 from your preferred programming language.
For more information about the Query API, see Query Requests.
Required Knowledge
If you plan to access Amazon EC2 through an API, you should be familiar with the following:
XML
Web services
HTTP requests
One or more programming languages, such as Java, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, C#, or C++.
Endpoints
An endpoint is a URL that serves as an entry point for a web service. You can select a regional endpoint for Amazon EC2 when you make your requests to reduce latency. For more information about regions, see Region and Availability Zone Concepts. For information about the endpoints for Amazon EC2, see Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.
If you specify the general endpoint, ec2.amazonaws.com, we use the endpoint for
us-east-1. To use a different region, specify its associated endpoint.
For example, if you specify ec2.us-west-2.amazonaws.com as the endpoint, we direct your
request to the us-west-2 endpoint.
Available Libraries
AWS provides libraries, sample code, tutorials, and other resources for software developers who prefer to build applications using language-specific APIs instead of submitting a request over HTTP or HTTPS. These libraries provide basic functions that automatically take care of tasks such as cryptographically signing your requests, retrying requests, and handling error responses, so that it is easier for you to get started.
For more information, see AWS SDKs and Tools.
