What is a RESTful API, and how does it differ from other types of APIs?
What is a RESTful API, and how does it differ from other types of APIs?
42118-Apr-2023
Updated on 21-Nov-2023
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What is a RESTful API, and how does it differ from other types of APIs?
Aryan Kumar
21-Nov-2023RESTful API, or Representational State Transfer API, is an architectural style for designing networked applications. It is based on a set of principles and constraints that, when followed, lead to the creation of scalable, stateless, and easily maintainable web services. RESTful APIs use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform operations on resources, and they often return data in common formats like JSON or XML.
Key Principles of RESTful API:
Stateless Communication:
Resource-Based:
Representation:
Uniform Interface:
Stateless Server:
Differences from Other Types of APIs:
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol):
RPC (Remote Procedure Call):
GraphQL:
WebSocket:
OData (Open Data Protocol):
In summary, while RESTful APIs have become the dominant approach for building web services due to their simplicity, scalability, and statelessness, other API types like SOAP, RPC, GraphQL, WebSocket, and OData serve specific use cases and may be preferred in certain contexts based on requirements and constraints.