Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are a set of rules and instructions for how software can interact with a dataset. APIs allow flexibility in how information within a dataset is accessed, typically so that users can select only a specific, relevant subset of the information. APIs are usually connected to datasets that are updated in real-time.

Datasets contain individual resources, as well as metadata. Metadata contains information about the dataset. Resources are the files within the dataset. A dataset may have multiple resources such as APIs, links or images.

A dataset is a collection of related sets of information, which shows relationships between categories and variables. An example of a dataset is a table of all train stations in NSW, with a set of information about each station, such as platform numbers.