Understanding REST APIs: A Practical Introduction

REST is one of the most commonly misused terms in web development. Let's clear it up with practical examples.

#What REST Actually Means

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a set of conventions for designing networked APIs around resources and standard HTTP verbs.

#Resources, Not Actions

Good REST APIs name endpoints after resources (nouns), not actions (verbs):

GET    /courses           # list courses
GET    /courses/12        # get one course
POST   /courses           # create a course
PUT    /courses/12        # update a course
DELETE /courses/12        # delete a course

#Status Codes Matter

• 200 OK — successful GET/PUT
• 201 Created — successful POST
• 404 Not Found — resource doesn't exist
• 422 Unprocessable Entity — validation failed

#Versioning Your API

Prefixing routes like /api/v1/courses gives you room to evolve the API without breaking existing clients.

A predictable, resource-oriented API is one of the biggest gifts you can give the developers who consume it — including future you.