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REST APIs

An architectural style for designing networked APIs around resources.

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Overview

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a set of architectural conventions -- resources identified by URLs, standard HTTP methods (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE) for actions, and stateless requests -- that most web APIs follow, even if not perfectly 'RESTful' by the original academic definition.

What it is
A convention for designing HTTP APIs around resources, URLs, and standard HTTP methods.
Why it's used
It's the most widely understood API convention, backed by HTTP itself, requiring no additional protocol layer.
Where it fits
The design layer between a frontend and backend, or between two backend services, regardless of the specific framework implementing it.

Core concepts

  • Resources and URLs
  • HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
  • Status codes
  • Statelessness
  • JSON as the typical payload format

Example

The URL identifies the resource (a specific book); the HTTP method identifies the action -- this consistency is what makes REST APIs predictable to use without reading custom documentation for every endpoint.

GET /api/books/42        -> fetch one book
POST /api/books           -> create a book
PUT /api/books/42         -> replace book 42
DELETE /api/books/42      -> delete book 42

Common use cases

  • Any client-server communication over HTTP
  • Public and internal service APIs

Project ideas

  • Design (on paper) the REST endpoints for a simple to-do app: list, create, update, delete

Official references