What are REST APIs?
The term REST APIs stands for Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface. REST in the tech world are rules that developers must follow when developing an application programming interface. On the other hand, API is the interface that brings various applications to function in synergy to share data and execute processes.
How Does It Work?
Developers use REST APIs to create web applications that can be accessed through HTTP requests. REST APIs are often used to create and manage websites, mobile apps, and other kinds of software. REST APIs are also used in the development process of software, such as Enterprise Resource Planning systems and data management systems.
What is the difference between REST APIs and SOAP APIs?
SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol. It is a protocol that defines how an object is transferred from one application to another over an internet connection. For example, the object in question could be anything from a file, data, or an entire website.
REST works by using HTTP requests to send data from one place to another. There are two different ways to use REST APIs: Call-by-Value and Call-by-Reference.
The difference between call-by-value and call-by-reference is how the data is sent to the server. In call-by-value, the server sends back a copy of the data, while in call-by-reference, the server sends back a pointer to where it can be found on the server.
REST APIs are often used for mobile app development. A great deal of both iOS and Android apps are built using REST APIs. REST APIs can be used for basic operations such as getting information about your account or for more complex tasks such as uploading a photo to Facebook or downloading an app from the App Store.
The Request Anatomy
REST APIs consist of multiple endpoints containing information about how to call it
The Data Representation
A REST API has a data representation, which is how the data is sent back to the client. Find out more about Rest API on Contentful.
Headers
The headers are the first part of the request. They include information about the request, such as the URL and method. Request headers are used to set various things such as cookies, authentication, and other information. The client can use these headers to customize its requests. These request headers are sent with every request to REST APIs. They are stored in the response by each endpoint that the client calls. For example, if you want to authenticate your user, you will probably like to send a header with your username and password to be verified before it is sent back to you.
Body
The body contains the actual data being sent to the server.
Method
The method is a string used to determine which endpoint should be called.
The URL
The URL is the location of the resource on the server. The client can access the URL at any point, but it may not be available until after a request has been sent to the server.
Endpoint
An endpoint is a method called by the server for each request. There are typically multiple endpoints for each resource. For example, there may be an endpoint to get the latest blog posts, another to create a new post, and yet another to edit an existing post. In addition, the client will make multiple requests on behalf of the resource owner by providing different endpoints.
