Why do APIs/webhooks run before Pipelines?

I'm doing some testing on an app and noticed functionality based on APIs/webhooks was completing its task well before the pipeline was triggered. The pipeline trigger was a field on a form, so when I saved the form both the API/webhook and the pipeline should start. Why does it take longer for the pipeline to start? I'm asking because I'm thinking of deploying a process whereby this order matters. If the were reversed, and the pipeline fired first, the webhook wouldn't run. Will it always be the case that pipelines will be slightly slower to trigger and run than APIs and webhooks?

Thanks,

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Daniel Johnson
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