Overview
RESTful APIs (Representational State Transfer) are web services that allow interaction between client and server over HTTP. REST is an architectural style that defines a set of constraints for creating web services, emphasizing scalability, simplicity, and performance. RESTful APIs are stateless, meaning each request from the client to the server must contain all the necessary information. RESTful APIs use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, making them a common choice for building scalable, distributed systems.
Key Features:
- Stateless: Each request contains all the information required for processing, without storing the client state on the server.
- Resource-Based URLs: Data is treated as resources, each identified by a unique URL.
- HTTP Methods: Uses standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for CRUD operations.
- Scalability: The stateless nature of REST allows APIs to scale horizontally easily.
- JSON/XML Responses: RESTful APIs typically return data in lightweight formats such as JSON or XML.
Use Cases:
- Web and mobile app backends
- Microservices communication
- Integrating third-party services or APIs
- Building server-side APIs for frontend applications