Rest API Methods

In this tutorial, we will learn about Rest API Methods. HTTP Methods are the actions that can be performed on the resource. We have below common HTTP Methods that can be used to perform actions on the resource:

Method	Description
GET	Used to retrieve/read data from a server
POST	Used to create new resources on the server
PUT	Used to update existing resources
PATCH	Used to make partial update to a resource
DELETE	Used to delete resources from the server
HEAD	Similar to GET but returns only headers, no body
OPTIONS	Used to describe method options for the resource

GET Method

GET method is used to get the data from the server. Below are some examples of GET requests:

GET /api/users/123

In the above example, we are passing 123 after / to get the user with id 123. This is called path param or path variable. Path param is used to pass the value in the URL path and used after / and users.

GET /api/products?category=electronics
GET /api/products?category=electronics&brand=sony

In the above example, we are passing category=electronics and brand=sony after ? to get the products with category electronics and with brand sony. This is called query param. Query param is used to pass the value in the URL query string and used after ? and separated by &.

GET /api/users

In the above example, we are not passing any path or query param. This request will return all the users from the server.

POST Method

POST method is used to create a new resource on the server.

POST /api/users
{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com"
}

In the above example, we are passing the user details in the request body to create a new user on the server. In POST method, we pass the data in the request body to the server and then server will process the data and create a new resource.

PUT Method

PUT request to update user details:

PUT /api/users/123
{
    PUT /api/users/123
    {
        "name": "John Smith",
        "email": "john.smith@example.com"
    }
}

In the above example, we are passing the user details in the request body to update the user with id 123.

PATCH Method

PATCH method is used to make a partial update to a resource.

PATCH /api/users/123
{
    "email": "new.email@example.com"
}

In the above example, we are passing partial user details in the request body to update the user with id 123.

DELETE Method

DELETE method is used to delete resources from the server.:

DELETE /api/users/123

In the above example, we are passing 123 as a path param to delete the user with id 123.

HEAD Method Example

HEAD method is used to fetch the headers of the resource.

HEAD /api/users/123

The above request will return only the headers of the user with id 123. For Example:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 123

OPTIONS Method Example

OPTIONS method is used to describe method options for the resource.

OPTIONS /api/users

The above request will return the methods that can be used on the resource. For Example:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Allow: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS
Content-Length: 0

In the above response, the allow header will return the methods that can be used on the resource.

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