Attributes of good REST APIs

APIs are the backbone of a successful application architecture and REST APIs are the most popular way of creating web services.

Below is a concise list of best practices to use while designing REST APIs.

1. Consistency of HTTP methods

• GET /api/v1/threads - to get a list of all threads
• GET /api/v1/threads/14 - get a single thread with id 14
• POST /api/v1/threads - add a new thread to collection
• PUT /api/v1/threads/14 - update thread with id 14
• DELETE /api/v1/threads/14 - update thread with id 14

2. Versioning

• Version is part of the endpoint
• This gives the possibility to support multiple live versions of the same API. E.g. Twitter has API versions 1.1 and 2.0 - both are live and accessible.
• Enables easy switching and rollback for consumers of the API

3. Use standard HTTP error codes

• HTTP response codes were created to describe the semantics of an API response.
• Return standard error codes and let the consumer handle the errors in their own way. Always include a message in your errors for troubleshooting purposes.

4. Endpoint conventions

• Plural nouns for collections and no verbs
  E.g. "threads" is used instead of using verbs like /getThread, /updateThread

• Resource nesting is visible in the endpoint
  E.g.

  • GET /api/v1/threads/14/tweets
  • GET /api/v1/threads/14/tweets/2

5. Security

• Use TLS/SSL
• Use authentication and authorization to avoid malicious requests
• Set up rate limiting and caching to prevent against DoS attacks

6. Performance

• Use caching(in-memory or CDN) to provide fast results for repeated GET requests

• A good API has pagination and filtering capabilities to reduce the amount of data being transferred. Data transfer objects should not include unnecessary fields.

7. Documentation

• The least requirements of a method documentation - description, request parameters, response, error scenarios.

• Definitely include request/response samples to provide the full picture.

Also check - https://swagger.io/specification/

My final suggestion is to make API designing process the starting point of your backend architecture and build other architectural components around it.

Thanks for reading.

I hope this was useful in providing a checklist of points to take care of while designing APIs.

If you want to connect with me, you can find me on Twitter