Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs

An API that uses REST is often referred as a RESTful API.

RESTful APIs use HTTP methods to gather and manipulate data.

As there is a defined structure on how HTTP works, HTTP offers a consistent way to interact with APIs from multiple vendors.

REST uses different functions to interact with data:

HTTP Functions

HTTP functions are similar to functions that databases use to store or change data.

GET

Requests data from a destination

POST

Submits data to a destination

PUT

Replaces data in a specific destination

PATCH

Appends data to a specific destination

DELETE

Removes data from a specific destination

CRUD Functions

The functions are are called ‘CRUD’ functions which stands for Create, Read, Update, Delete.

Create

Inserts data in a database

Read

Retrieves data from a database

Update

Modifies or replaces data in a database

Delete

Removes data from a database