Web Development
Intermediate
What is REST (Representational State Transfer)?
An architectural style for designing networked applications using standard HTTP methods and stateless communication.
REST defines principles for web service design: statelessness (each request contains all needed information), resource-based URLs (/users/123), standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE), and uniform interface.
RESTful APIs return standard HTTP status codes and typically use JSON format. Best practices include versioning (/api/v1/), pagination, filtering, HATEOAS (hypermedia links), and proper error responses.
