# Interface

> An interface is the point at which two systems, programs or components meet and exchange data; the word also covers the user interface between a person and software.

Original page: https://t10.de/en/glossary/interface
Publisher: total10 GmbH, https://t10.de/en/glossary

Two standards for software and systems engineering, ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, [define an interface](https://pascal.computer.org/sev_display/search.action?term=interface) as the point at which two or more system elements (logical, physical or both) meet and act on or communicate with each other. The Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, a German business dictionary, takes a broader view: any point of contact between different things. For software engineering it distinguishes three kinds: the module interface, the user interface between the end user and the software product, and the hardware interface between the operating system and the hardware.

The word has several uses, so the context decides which one is meant. In this glossary the word mostly refers to connections between systems, for instance between a business application and a warehouse management system (WMS). Such a connection might be an API, a file transfer over SFTP or an EDI message.

A connection need not be elaborate. For a stock alert we built for a pharma logistics client, the WMS needed no new connection at all: the application picks up a CSV stock list that the WMS already writes and makes available over SFTP. We build business applications, portals and interfaces, and when our software has to talk to existing systems, an API or SFTP is our standard choice.

## See also

- [API](https://t10.de/en/glossary/api): An API (application programming interface) is a defined set of functions and rules that lets one piece of software use the features or data of another system or service.
- [SFTP](https://t10.de/en/glossary/sftp): SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) transfers files securely over a Secure Shell (SSH) connection; despite the name, it is a separate protocol from the older FTP.
- [EDI](https://t10.de/en/glossary/edi): EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the paperless, partly automated electronic exchange of business data between companies or between parts of one company.
- [CSV](https://t10.de/en/glossary/csv): CSV stands for comma-separated values, a text format for tables with one record per line; on our pharma pages it also stands for computer system validation, which has its own entry.
- [Business application](https://t10.de/en/glossary/business-application): In general terms, a business application is software used to perform or support business functions.
- [WMS](https://t10.de/en/glossary/wms): WMS stands for warehouse management system; according to the short description of VDI 3601, its task is to manage and optimise a company's internal storage and transport systems.

## Where the term appears

- [Pharma IT services: Non-GxP software](https://t10.de/en/pharma)
- [Bespoke software & business apps with Symfony](https://t10.de/en/symfony-development)
- [Stock alerts in pharma logistics, without a web shop](https://t10.de/en/blog/stock-alerts-pharma)
- [One QR code on every appliance: from EU obligation to service portal](https://t10.de/en/blog/eu-energy-label-qr-platform)
- [Out of the inbox: a knowledge platform for a pharma logistics provider](https://t10.de/en/blog/knowledge-platform-pharma)
- [About us: two founders, one team, two worlds](https://t10.de/en/about-us)
- [total10 - software for e-commerce and pharma](https://t10.de/en/)
- [Online shops: Shopify and Shopware 5 agency](https://t10.de/en/online-shops)
- [Custom AI agents for businesses](https://t10.de/en/ai-agents)

## Sources

1. [SEVOCAB: interface, Definition aus ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2026 (3.1.33) und ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023 (3.20)](https://pascal.computer.org/sev_display/search.action?term=interface), IEEE Computer Society und ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 (SEVOCAB), accessed 2026-11-07
2. [Schnittstelle](https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/schnittstelle-44838), Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon (Springer Gabler), accessed 2026-11-07