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Njeri Muriithi
Njeri Muriithi

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REST API

Introduction to API

API --> Application Programming Interface , is defined as a set of rules or protocols that are set to enable two software to communicate with each other.
There are several types of API’s example SOAP, XML-RPC or REST
This article will focus more on REST API.

Rest API stands for REpresentational State Transfer→ It is a set of functions (GET, POST,PUT or Delete) that enables clients to perform CRUD operations that include Create , Read, Update and Delete resources in the data server.

There are Six REST API design principles.

  • Uniform interface
  • Stateless
  • Client-server decoupling
  • Cacheable
  • Code on Demand
  • Layered System

Rest API HTTP Methods

  1. GET → Request Data from a server.The response contains all details requested.
  2. POST→Create new resources on the server.
  3. PUT→Update a Resource in the specified URL.
  4. DELETE→Delete a Resource in the Specified URL.

Top comments (2)

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nlxdodge profile image
NLxDoDge

Also don't forget the PATCH.

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With Patch if you have a whole object, you can just update only the persons birth-date for example. Instead of doing a get, and then needing to give the whole object back.

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njeri_muriithi profile image
Njeri Muriithi

Thank you for the reminder, I appreciate.