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HTTP APIs

Definitions​

  • Resource
    • An important thing you want to expose through your API
  • URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)
    • A name for a resource
  • Method
    • Resources have a fixed set of methods.
  • Representation
    • A protection of the state of a resource at a particular point in time.
  • Media Type
    • A specific format for a representation like application/json, text/html, etc.

HTTP Resources​

There are two basic categories.

  • Document
    • Represents a specific instance of a resource.
    • Example: /customers/bob
    • These are usually subordinate resources to a collection
  • Collections
    • Represents a group of related resources.
    • Example /customers
    • Can often be filtered with a query string
      • Example /customers?state=CA