Data Archive

REST API

REST API

  • REST stands for Representational State Transfer.
  • It is a standardized software architecture style used for API communication between a client and a server.

Benefits of REST APIs:

  1. Simplicity and Standardization:
    • Data formatting and request structuring are standardized and widely adopted.
  2. Scalability and Statelessness:
    • Easily modifiable as service complexity grows without tracking data states across client and server.
  3. High Performance:
    • Supports caching, maintaining high performance even as complexity increases.

Main Building Blocks:

  1. Request:
    • Actions (==CRUD==): Create (POST), Read (GET), Update (PUT), Delete (DELETE).
    • Components: Operation (HTTP method), Endpoint, Parameters/Body, Headers.
  2. Response:
    • Typically in JSON format.

REST API Example: ice cream shop inteacting with cloud database.

  • Endpoint example: “icecream.com/api/flavors”
    • “api” indicates the API portion.
    • “flavors” refers to the resource being accessed or modified.

Real-world Examples:

  1. Get Flavors:
    • Operation: GET
    • Endpoint: “/api/flavors”
    • Response: Array of flavor resources.
  2. Update Flavor:
    • Operation: PUT
    • Endpoint: “/api/flavors/1”
    • Body: New flavor data.
    • Response: Confirmation of update.
  3. Create New Flavor:
    • Operation: POST
    • Endpoint: “/api/flavors”
    • Body: New flavor data.
    • Response: Confirmation of creation.

Backlinks