REST (Representational State Transfer) is a widely used architectural style for building web services. It relies on standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE to interact with resources.
Key Features of REST API
- 📌 Stateless: Each request contains all the information needed to process it.
- 🌐 Client-Server: Separation of concerns between client and server components.
- 🔄 Cacheable: Responses can be cached to improve performance.
- 📦 Uniform Interface: Consistent methods and data formats for simplicity.
Common Use Cases
- 🔍 Retrieve data (GET requests)
- ✏️ Create or update resources (POST/PUT requests)
- 🧹 Delete data (DELETE requests)
- 📊 Query specific endpoints for structured responses
Example: Making a GET Request
GET /api/users HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/json
This request fetches a list of users from the server.
Further Reading
For a deeper dive into REST API design principles, check out our REST API Best Practices Guide.