1.What is Rest API?
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A RESTful API, or simply a REST API, is
a web service that follows the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture
. -
REST is
a set of architectural constraints
that are applied toweb services
, which can be used to create highly scalable and flexible web services. -
One of the key features of a REST API
is that it isstateless
, which means thatthe server does not store any information about the client's state
. Instead, all information required toservice a request is included in the request itself
. -
This allows for
greater scalability and flexibility
, as the serverdoes not need to maintain any state information about the client
. -
Another key feature of a REST API is that it
uses HTTP methods
, such asGET, POST, PUT and DELETE
, to indicate the type of operation the client requests. For example, a GET request retrieves information from the server, while a POST request is used to submit information to the server. This allows for a simple and consistent way of interacting with the server, regardless of the type of data being exchanged. -
A REST API also uses a simple and
consistent URL structure
, which makes it easy for developers to understand and interact with the API. -
The URL structure typically includes
the base URL, followed by a resource path and an optional query string
. The resource path is used to specify the specific resource that the client is interacting with, while the query string is used to pass additional information to the server. -
REST APIs also use standard HTTP response codes to indicate the status of a request. For example,
a 200 OK response indicates that the request was successful
, whilea 400 Bad Request response indicates that the request was invalid.
This allows for easy and consistent error handling, as developers can easily understand the meaning of a particular response code. -
One of the major benefits of using a REST API is that it is
platform-independent
, which means that it can be used withany programming language or framework that supports HTTP
. This allows for greater flexibility and ease of integration with existing systems, as developers can use the tools and technologies with which they are already familiar. -
Another benefit of using a REST API is that it is
lightweight and easy to use
. It uses standard HTTP methods and response codes, which makes it easy for developers to understand and interact with the API. Additionally, becausea REST API is stateless
,it does not require session or cookie-based authentication, which simplifies the authentication process.
2.Advantages of RESTful Web Services
Fast: RESTful Web Services are fast because there is no strict specification like SOAP. It consumes less bandwidth and resource.
Language and Platform independent: RESTful web services can be written in any programming language and executed in any platform.
Can use SOAP: RESTful web services can use SOAP web services as the implementation.
Permits different data format: RESTful web service permits different data format
such as Plain Text, HTML, XML and JSON.
3.SOAP vs REST Web Services
There are many differences between SOAP and REST web services. The important 10 differences between SOAP and REST are given below: