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What is REST APIs?

REST stands for Representational State Transfer, and REST API (Application Programming Interface) is a style of building web services that allows communication between different applications.

In simple terms, a REST API defines a set of guidelines and principles for building web-based APIs that enable data to be exchanged between a client (such as a web browser) and a server (such as a web application) using standard HTTP(S) methods.

RESTful APIs use HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE to manipulate the resources (data) of the server. For instance, a GET request retrieves data from the server, while a POST request sends data to the server to create a new resource.

The communication between the client and server in a RESTful API is stateless, meaning that each request sent by the client contains all the necessary information to fulfill that request without requiring any previous interactions.

The advantages of REST APIs are that they are language and platform independent, scalable, and allow for loose coupling between different components of an application. RESTful APIs are widely used by developers to build web and mobile applications that interact with backend servers to access, create, or modify data.

API Endpoint

An API endpoint is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that is used to access a specific resource on a web server. API endpoints are the URLs that clients use to interact with a web API, and they typically consist of a base URL followed by a path that identifies a specific resource or action.

For example, if you were building a weather API, you might have an endpoint like this:

                                                
                                                    https://api.example.com/weather/forecast
                                                
                                            

In this example, the base URL is https://api.example.com, and the endpoint path is /weather/forecast. This endpoint might be used to retrieve a forecast for a specific location.

API endpoints can also include query parameters, which are used to filter or modify the response returned by the server. For example, you might add a zip parameter to the endpoint above to specify the zip code for the location you want to retrieve the forecast for:

                                                
                                                    https://api.example.com/weather/forecast?zip=90210
                                                
                                            

In summary, API endpoints are the URLs used to access specific resources or actions on a web API, and they typically consist of a base URL and a path that identifies the resource, along with optional query parameters that modify the response.

API Request Methods

API (Application Programming Interface) request methods are the standard HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) methods used to interact with a web API. There are several request methods, but the most commonly used API request methods are:

GET: This method is used to retrieve data from the server. When a GET request is made, the server sends back the requested data in the response body.

POST: This method is used to create new resources on the server. When a POST request is made, the data to be created is sent in the request body, and the server returns a response indicating whether the creation was successful.

PUT: This method is used to update existing resources on the server. When a PUT request is made, the updated data is sent in the request body, and the server returns a response indicating whether the update was successful.

DELETE: This method is used to delete existing resources from the server. When a DELETE request is made, the server removes the specified resource and returns a response indicating whether the deletion was successful.

PATCH: This method is used to partially update an existing resource on the server. When a PATCH request is made, only the specified fields are updated, rather than the entire resource.

OPTIONS: This method is used to retrieve the available methods for a specific resource on the server. When an OPTIONS request is made, the server returns a response containing the available methods.

In summary, API request methods are the standard HTTP methods used to interact with a web API, and include GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, and OPTIONS. Each method is used for a specific purpose and has a unique set of characteristics and behaviors.

HTTPS Status Codes

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) status codes are three-digit numbers returned by a web server in response to a client request. These status codes indicate whether the request was successful or not, and provide additional information about the status of the request. HTTP response status codes indicate whether a specific HTTP request is successfully completed. Responses codes are grouped into five classes. Here are some of the most common HTTP status codes and their meanings::

These are just a few examples of HTTP status codes, and there are many others that are used for different purposes. It is important for developers to understand HTTP status codes and how to handle them in their applications, as they can provide valuable information about the status of the request and help troubleshoot issues that may arise. You can Refer to Mozilla docs to know more about status codes.