HTTP

Main REST API Requests Explained with Examples When working with APIs, especially in web and backend development, you’ll encounter a set of standard HTTP methods used to interact with resources. These methods follow REST principles — a common architectural style. Let’s break down the most commonly used REST methods: 🔍 GET — Retrieve Data Use GET to request data from a server. Example: GET /users/123 HTTP/1.1 Host: example.com This will fetch information about the user with ID 123. ...

What is REST? REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for designing networked applications. It’s not a protocol or a standard, but rather a set of principles that use HTTP to perform CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) on resources. Why REST? REST became popular because it’s simple, stateless, and leverages existing HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE. Think of REST like a restaurant: You (client) place an order (request) The kitchen (server) prepares the food (response) You don’t need to know how they made it; you just get the result Core Principles Stateless: Each request contains all necessary information. Server doesn’t store session. Client-Server: Decouples frontend and backend. Cacheable: Improves performance by caching responses. Uniform Interface: Resources are accessed via standard URIs and HTTP methods. Layered System: Architecture can have multiple layers (like proxies, gateways). HTTP Methods Method Action GET Read POST Create PUT Update DELETE Delete Example GET /users/123 This fetches user with ID 123. ...

Introduction to HTTP HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data communication on the web. It’s a client-server protocol used for fetching resources such as HTML documents, images, and APIs. HTTP Versions Overview HTTP/1.1 Released in 1997 Supports persistent connections (keep-alive) Still widely used Limitation: Head-of-line blocking HTTP/2 Binary protocol introduced in 2015 Multiplexing: Multiple streams over a single TCP connection Header compression (HPACK) Server push (optional) Faster than HTTP/1.1 HTTP/3 Uses QUIC instead of TCP Built-in encryption (TLS 1.3 only) Better performance on lossy networks Fully multiplexed, no head-of-line blocking WebSockets WebSockets provide a full-duplex communication channel over a single TCP connection. ...