It is not hard to find the definitions of REST, API, CRUD, and HTTP methods separately. However, knowing these definitions does not give you the answer to what RESTful API is.
I did some research, and the simplest definition I can find is as follows:
"A RESTful API is an application program interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data." - Margaret Rouse
I think the reason why it is hard to come up with a precise and concise explanation for RESTful API is that it is difficult to explain REST in a few sentences, and therefore it is even more difficult to explain RESTful API in a few sentences.
RESTful API sounds simple but the architecture contains more components than it sounds!
Top comments (1)
Worry no more, this article is great at explaining and introducing what is RESTful API and how to use it