This article describes best practices for designingRESTfulwebAPIs. It also covers commondesignpatternsandconsiderations for building webAPIsthat are easy to understand, flexible, and maintainable.
Among variousAPIarchitectures,RESTfulAPIsremain the most widely used standard for building scalable backend systems. If you are building backend services using Node.js, Python, Java, or any modern framework, understanding RESTAPIdesignprinciples and best practices is essential for creating maintainable and scalable applications.
Kick off your RESTAPIproject with a clear workflow checklist, industry best practices, and tips for avoiding gotchas.
What Is ARESTfulAPI? ARESTfulAPIis a web service that follows REST (Representational State Transfer) principles—an architectural style where resources are accessed through standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
TheAPIguidelines document includes a section on how to apply the guidelines depending on whether theAPIis new or existing. In particular, when working in an existingAPIecosystem, be sure to align with stakeholders on a definition of what constitutes a breaking change to understand the impact of implementing certain best practices.
Explore 10 keyRESTfulAPIdesignpatternsevery developer should master for building robust, maintainable, and scalable web services.
APIDesignPatternsfor REST by Adam DuVander on November 24, 2021 • 11 min read REST turns 22 years old in a few months. In addition to theAPIarchitectureandrecommendations outlined in Roy Fielding's dissertation, we now have two decades of practical application.
