Rest API Terminologies

1. Resource

A resource is an object or representation of something, which has some associated data with it and a set of methods to operate on it. For example, a user is a resource, which has data like id, name, email, etc., and methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.

2. URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)

A URI is a string of characters used to identify a resource. A URI can be of two types:

• URL (Uniform Resource Locator): It is a subset of URI and is used to identify the resource by its location. For example, https://nicetesters.com/rest-api-tutorial.
• URN (Uniform Resource Name): It is also a subset of URI and is used to identify the resource by its name. For example, urn:isbn:0451450523.

3. HTTP Methods

HTTP Methods are the actions that can be performed on the resource. The most common HTTP Methods are:

• GET: It is used to retrieve data from the server.
• POST: It is used to send data to the server to create a new resource.
• PUT: It is used to update the existing resource.
• DELETE: It is used to delete the resource from the server.

4. Status Codes

Status Codes are the codes returned by the server after processing the request. The most common Status Codes are:

• 200: It indicates that the request was successful.
• 201: It indicates that the resource was created successfully.
• 400: It indicates that there was an error in the request.
• 404: It indicates that the resource was not found.
• 500: It indicates that there was an error on the server.

5. Headers

Headers are the additional information sent with the request or response. The most common Headers are:

• Content-Type: It specifies the format of the data sent or received.
• Authorization: It specifies the authentication information.
• Accept: It specifies the format in which the data is accepted.

6. Media Types

Media Types are the formats in which the data is exchanged between the client and the server. The most common Media Types are:

• application/json: It is used to exchange data in JSON format.
• application/xml: It is used to exchange data in XML format.
• text/html: It is used to exchange data in HTML format.

7. Request Body

Request Body is the data sent with the request to create or update a resource. It is used with POST and PUT methods.

8. Response Body

Response Body is the data sent by the server in response to the request. It contains the data of the resource requested.

9. Query Parameters

Query Parameters are the parameters sent with the request to filter or sort the data. For example, in the URL https://nicetesters.com/users?sort=asc, the query parameter is sort=asc.

10. Path Parameters or Path Variables

Path Parameters or Path Variables are the parameters sent with the URL to identify a specific resource. For example, in the URL https://nicetesters.com/users/1, the path parameter is 1.

Rest API Terminologies Examples

• Resource: User
• URI: https://nicetesters.com/users
• HTTP Method: GET
• Status Code: 200
• Media Type: application/json
• Header: Content-Type: application/json
• Query Parameter: sort=asc
• Request Body: {"name":"John Doe","email":" [email protected]"}
• Response Body: {"id":1,"name":"John Doe","email":" [email protected]"}