Blockchain Nanodegree 预修知识之三：RESTful APIs(1)

Lesson 1: What’s and Why’s of APIs

What are APIs

APIs: Application Programming Interface

• refer to any method of communication between two entities of code
• connection points in code that allow one application to talk to another

Web API Protocols

Protocals: A set of rules for machines to speak the same language

OSI model: Open Systems Interconnection

Learn more about the OSI Model.

OSI Layers

Physical - Data Link - Network - Transport - Session - Presentation - Application (bottom to top)

• A layer servers the layer above it, and is served by the layer below it
• Protocols should be able to receive and hand off data for the protocols in the adjacent layers

Application layer protocols

HTTP, FTP, IMAP, SSH, POP, …

Two more layers: Web Service - Message Formatting

Web Service Layer

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)

REpresentational State Transfer (REST): Use HTTP verbs

Message Formatting Layer

eXtensible Markup Language (XML)

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)

REST Constraints

1. Client-Server

   • Client sends requests to Server
   • Server sends response to Client

2. Stateless

   • A stateful architecture remembers a client’s activity between requests
   • A truly RESTful architecture is not allowed to retain information about the state of another machine during the communication process

3. Cacheable

   • Requests are labeled as cacheable or non-cacheable

4. Uniform Interface

   • uniform between all clients and servers

5. Layered system

   • a client can have access to an endpoint that relies on other endpoints without having to understand all of the underlying implementaions
   • Layering allows very complicated tasks to be completed without having to understand all of the underlying complexities that are required to generate the response.

6. Code on Demand (optional)