What the difference between REST API and RESTful API?

The short answer is that REST stands for Representational State Transfer. It’s an architectural pattern for creating web services. A RESTful service is one that implements that pattern.

The long answer starts with “sort of” and “it depends” and continues with more complete definitions.

Defining REST

Let’s start by defining what REST is and is not. For some, REST means a server that exchanges JSON documents with a client over HTTP. Not only is that not a complete definition, but it’s also not always true. The REST specification doesn’t require HTTP or JSON. (The spec doesn’t mention JSON or XML at all.)

The Origins of REST

Roy Fielding introduced the REST architectural pattern in a dissertation he wrote in 2000. The paper defines a means for clients and servers to exchange application data. A key feature is that the client doesn’t need to know anything about the application in advance. The link is to chapter five of his paper. While the entire dissertation describes the hows and whys of REST, that chapter defines the architectural pattern.

Fielding doesn’t mandate specific requirements. Instead, he defines REST regarding constraints and architectural elements.

REST’s Architectural Constraints

Here is a summary of the constraints.

• Client-server – REST applications have a server that manages application data and state. The server communicates with a client that handles the user interactions. A clear separation of concerns divides the two components. This means you can update and improve them in independent tracks.
• Stateless – servers don’t maintain any client state. Clients manage their application state. Their requests to servers contain all the information required to process them.
• Cacheable – servers must mark their responses as cacheable or not. So, infrastructures and clients can cache them when possible to improve performance. They can dispose of non-cacheable Information, so no client uses stale data.
• Uniform interface – this constraint is REST’s most well known feature or rule, depending on who you ask. Fielding says “The central feature that distinguishes the REST architectural style from other network-based styles is its emphasis on a uniform interface between components.” REST services provide data as resources, with a consistent namespace. We’ll cover this in detail below.
• Layered system – components in the system cannot “see” beyond their layer. So, you can easily add load-balancers and proxies to improve security or performance.

A RESTful service is more than a web server that exchanges JSON, or any other, documents. These constraints work together to create a very specific type of application.

Applying the Constraints

First, the client-server, layered systems and stateless constraints combine to form an application with solid boundaries and clear separations between concerns. Data moves from the server to the client upon request. The client displays or manipulates it. If the state changes, the client sends it back to the server for storage. Fielding specifically contrasts REST with architectures that use distributed objects to hide data from other components. In REST, the client and server share knowledge about data and state. The architecture doesn’t conceal data, it only hides implementations.

The cacheable and uniform state constraints go one step further. Application data is available to clients in a clear and consistent interface and cached when possible.

So, that’s the technical definition of REST. What does it look like in the real world?

RPC Over HTTP vs. RESTful

Often when someone says that a service “isn’t REST,” they’re looking at the URIs or how the service uses HTTP verbs. They’re referring to REST’s presentation of data as a uniform set of resources.

This distinction is sometimes framed as a difference between remote procedures calls (RPC) and REST. Imagine a web service for listing, adding, and removing, items from an e-commerce inventory.

In one version, there’s a single URL that we query with HTTP GETs or POSTs.  You interact with the service by POSTing a document, setting the contents to reflect what you want to do.

Add new items with a POST with a NewItem:

POST /inventory HTTP/1.1
 
{
    "NewItem": {
          "name": "new item",
          "price": "9.99",
          "id": "1001"
      }
}    

Query for items with a POST and an ItemRequest:

POST /inventory HTTP/1.1
 
{
    "ItemRequest": {
          "id": "1001"
      }
}

Some implementations accept a request for a new item with a get, too.

POST /inventory?id=1001 HTTP/1.1

We also change or delete items with a POST and an ItemDelete or ItemUpdate.

POST /inventory HTTP/1.1
 
{
    "ItemDelete": {
          "id": "1001"
      }
}

This isn’t REST. We’re not exchanging the state of resources. We’re calling a function with arguments that happen to be in a JSON document or URL arguments.

A RESTful service has a URI for each item in the inventory.

So, adding a new item would look like the example above.

POST /item HTTP/1.1
 
{
    "Item": {
          "name": "new item",
          "price": "9.99",
          "id": "1001"
      }
}    

But the similarities end there. Retrieving an item is always a GET:

GET /item/1001 HTTP/1.1   

Deleting is a DELETE:

DELETE /item/1001 HTTP/1.1  

Modifying an item is a PUT:

POST /inventory HTTP/1.1
 
{
    "Item": {
          "name": "new item",
          "price": "7.99",
          "id": "1001"
      }
}    

The difference is important. In REST, operations that use distinct HTTP actions. These verbs correspond directly to the activity on the data. GET, POST, PUT, DELETE and PATCH all have specific contracts. Most well-designed REST APIs also return specific HTTP codes, depending on the result of the request.

The critical point is that the URIs operate on the data, not on remote methods.

But there’s another reason why the resource model is essential.

REST vs RESTful and the Richardson Maturity Model

When you model your URIs after resources and use HTTP verbs you make your API predictable. Once developers know how you defined your resources, they can almost predict what the API looks like. Here again, the emphasis is on understanding the data, not the operations.

But even if you can’t make the API entirely predictable, you can document any REST service with hypertext. So, each item returned in the inventory app would contain links for deleting, modifying, or setting the inventory level of the resource. Fielding says that before a service is RESTful, it must provide hypertext media as part of the API.

Many sites don’t meet this requirement but are still called REST. Fact is, many sites break the rules in one way or another. So many that Leonard Richardson created a model breaks down REST into levels of compliance

We’ve already covered the source levels:

• 0 – exporting an API over HTTP with methods called with arguments
• 1 – Exporting resources instead of methods
• 2 – Proper use of HTTP verbs
• 3 – Exporting hypertext with objects that make all or part of the API discoverable.

Richardson’s model is his own, and it doesn’t map directly into Fielding’s spec. Since Fielding requires level three, he would say that most apps aren’t REST anyway.

The point is many services that we colloquially refer to as REST, technically aren’t.

REST vs RESTful: Does It Matter?

So, does the REST vs. RESTful comparison matter? Probably not. How well your architecture complies with an arbitrary standard isn’t as important with how well it suits your needs and can grow with your business.

The REST architectural pattern has many advantages. Fielding designed it for the web and, 18 years later, most of the constraints he had in mind are still with us. In 2000 we didn’t have Android or the iPhone. IE5 had 50% of the browser market share. It’s biggest rival was Firefox. But Fielding recognized what online applications needed and how web clients would evolve from HTML display engines into complete applications. The tools we use today have grown to suit REST, not the other way around.

Thank you for reading. Hope this tutorial will help you!

#REST API #RESTful API #Developer #Programming #WebProgramming

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What is REST API? An Overview | Liquid Web

What is REST?

The REST acronym is defined as a “REpresentational State Transfer” and is designed to take advantage of existing HTTP protocols when used for Web APIs. It is very flexible in that it is not tied to resources or methods and has the ability to handle different calls and data formats. Because REST API is not constrained to an XML format like SOAP, it can return multiple other formats depending on what is needed. If a service adheres to this style, it is considered a “RESTful” application. REST allows components to access and manage functions within another application.

REST was initially defined in a dissertation by Roy Fielding’s twenty years ago. He proposed these standards as an alternative to SOAP (The Simple Object Access Protocol is a simple standard for accessing objects and exchanging structured messages within a distributed computing environment). REST (or RESTful) defines the general rules used to regulate the interactions between web apps utilizing the HTTP protocol for CRUD (create, retrieve, update, delete) operations.

What is an API?

An API (or Application Programming Interface) provides a method of interaction between two systems.

What is a RESTful API?

A RESTful API (or application program interface) uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE data following the REST standards. This allows two pieces of software to communicate with each other. In essence, REST API is a set of remote calls using standard methods to return data in a specific format.

The systems that interact in this manner can be very different. Each app may use a unique programming language, operating system, database, etc. So, how do we create a system that can easily communicate and understand other apps?? This is where the Rest API is used as an interaction system.

When using a RESTful API, we should determine in advance what resources we want to expose to the outside world. Typically, the RESTful API service is implemented, keeping the following ideas in mind:

• Format: There should be no restrictions on the data exchange format
• Implementation: REST is based entirely on HTTP
• Service Definition: Because REST is very flexible, API can be modified to ensure the application understands the request/response format.
• The RESTful API focuses on resources and how efficiently you perform operations with it using HTTP.

The features of the REST API design style state:

• Each entity must have a unique identifier.
• Standard methods should be used to read and modify data.
• It should provide support for different types of resources.
• The interactions should be stateless.

For REST to fit this model, we must adhere to the following rules:

• Client-Server Architecture: The interface is separate from the server-side data repository. This affords flexibility and the development of components independently of each other.
• Detachment: The client connections are not stored on the server between requests.
• Cacheability: It must be explicitly stated whether the client can store responses.
• Multi-level: The API should work whether it interacts directly with a server or through an additional layer, like a load balancer.

#tutorials #api #application #application programming interface #crud #http #json #programming #protocols #representational state transfer #rest #rest api #rest api graphql #rest api json #rest api xml #restful #soap #xml #yaml

An API-First Approach For Designing Restful APIs | Hacker Noon

I’ve been working with Restful APIs for some time now and one thing that I love to do is to talk about APIs.

So, today I will show you how to build an API using the API-First approach and Design First with OpenAPI Specification.

First thing first, if you don’t know what’s an API-First approach means, it would be nice you stop reading this and check the blog post that I wrote to the Farfetchs blog where I explain everything that you need to know to start an API using API-First.

Preparing the ground

Before you get your hands dirty, let’s prepare the ground and understand the use case that will be developed.

Tools

If you desire to reproduce the examples that will be shown here, you will need some of those items below.

• NodeJS
• OpenAPI Specification
• Text Editor (I’ll use VSCode)
• Command Line

Use Case

To keep easy to understand, let’s use the Todo List App, it is a very common concept beyond the software development community.

#api #rest-api #openai #api-first-development #api-design #apis #restful-apis #restful-api

Unilevel MLM Wordpress Rest API FrontEnd | UMW Rest API Woocommerce

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Business to Customer REST API for Unilevel MLM Woo-Commerce will empower your Woo-commerce site with the most powerful Unilevel MLM Woo-Commerce REST API, you will be able to get and send data to your marketplace from other mobile apps or websites using HTTP Rest API request.
Our plugin is used JWT authentication for the authorization process.

REST API Unilevel MLM Woo-commerce plugin contains following APIs.
User Login Rest API
User Register Rest API
User Join Rest API
Get User info Rest API
Get Affiliate URL Rest API 
Get Downlines list Rest API
Get Bank Details Rest API
Save Bank Details Rest API
Get Genealogy JSON Rest API
Get Total Earning Rest API
Get Current Balance Rest API
Get Payout Details Rest API
Get Payout List Rest API
Get Commissions List Rest API
Withdrawal Request Rest API
Get Withdrawal List Rest API

If you want to know more information and any queries regarding Unilevel MLM Rest API Woocommerce WordPress Plugin, you can contact our experts through 
Skype: jks0586, 
Mail: letscmsdev@gmail.com,
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Opencart REST API extensions - V3.x | Rest API Integration, Affiliate

Opencart REST API extensions - V3.x | Rest API Integration : OpenCart APIs is fully integrated with the OpenCart REST API. This is interact with your OpenCart site by sending and receiving data as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) objects. Using the OpenCart REST API you can register the customers and purchasing the products and it provides data access to the content of OpenCart users like which is publicly accessible via the REST API. This APIs also provide the E-commerce Mobile Apps.

Opencart REST API 
OCRESTAPI Module allows the customer purchasing product from the website it just like E-commerce APIs its also available mobile version APIs.

Opencart Rest APIs List 
Customer Registration GET APIs.
Customer Registration POST APIs.
Customer Login GET APIs.
Customer Login POST APIs.
Checkout Confirm GET APIs.
Checkout Confirm POST APIs.

If you want to know Opencart REST API Any information, you can contact us at -
Skype: jks0586,
Email: letscmsdev@gmail.com,
Website: www.letscms.com, www.mlmtrees.com
Call/WhatsApp/WeChat: +91–9717478599.

Download : https://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=marketplace/extension/info&extension_id=43174&filter_search=ocrest%20api
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RESTful API Design Driven Approach

In this tutorial I will show you the fundamentals of designing a RESTful API specification by applying REST principles and best practices, then you’ll be ready to try my online tutorial: How to design a REST API with API Designer?

If you already know what is meant by API in the context of RESTful web services, you can skip to the next section. If not, read on.

Level-Set on API

The abbreviation API stands for Application Programming Interface this in itself, does not help us understand what it is, however in the context of web services, it can refer to one of two things:

1. The RESTful API specification is written using a modeling language such as Open API specification or RAML (RESTful API Modeling Language) that defines a contract for how software components can interact with a service.
2. The implementation of a web service or microservice whose contract is designed by REST principles that describe how other services must interact with it.

In this post, I will use the first understanding of this term. Even though both are correct, the most technically relevant for this post is the first: an API is a contract for how software applications talk to each other.

Level-Set on REST

The acronym REST stands for REpresentational State Transfer. It is an architectural style used to represent the transmission of data from one application component to another. In the context of web services, we are talking about the representation of resources (i.e. data) transferred over HTTP by calling a URI that represents the data and via an HTTP method that represents the action to perform against the given data.

What Is RESTful API design?

RESTful API design is the activity of describing the behavior of a web service in terms of its data structures and the actions you allow other application components to perform on its data by the principles of REST. Those principles are covered later in this blog.

Why Design a RESTful API?

Imagine that you are an Architect (the kind the design building) and you set out to build an office block without a blueprint. You turn up on the first day with a truck full of bricks and some cement. What are the chances that you’ll be successful and build a structure that conforms to code and more importantly, doesn’t fall? It’s about zero. Without a blueprint the chance of failure is high.

The same approach applies to web service development. You need a blueprint, or more appropriately, an API specification. This is necessary to evaluate the API design and solicit feedback before even starting to build the implementation.

In addition to providing a specification for the web service’s development, an API contract serves to document its expected behavior, data types, and security requirements.

You should now be satisfied that API design is necessary for a RESTful web service, and should start to wonder how is the best approach to actually designing an API specification.

API Design Tooling

The tooling chosen by an API designer has substantial influence over the designer’s productivity. Highly productive tools such as the Anypoint API Designer from MuleSoft is perfect for designing APIs with OAS (swagger) or RAML.

#integration #api #rest #rest api #restful #api design #raml #rest api design