📮 REST API Explained Like You're 5

Web services using HTTP verbs

Day 128 of 149

👉 Full deep-dive with code examples

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The Library Analogy

A library with standard commands:

• GET a book - Receive book
• POST a book - Donate new book
• PUT a book - Replace with updated version
• DELETE a book - Remove from library

REST APIs use the same HTTP verbs to operate on resources.

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HTTP Methods = CRUD

Method	Action	Example
GET	Read	GET /users
POST	Create	POST /users
PUT	Update	PUT /users/1
DELETE	Delete	DELETE /users/1

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Real Example

// Get all users
const users = await fetch("/api/users");

// Create user
await fetch("/api/users", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: "Alice" }),
});

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Best Practices

• Use nouns, not verbs (/users not /getUsers)
• Use plurals (/products not /product)
• Return proper status codes (200, 201, 404, etc.)

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In One Sentence

REST APIs use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to interact with resources identified by URLs.

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