How a REST API Works

From a URL to JSON and back — resources, verbs, requests, status codes, and statelessness, step by step

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steps

Act 1 of 8·Client & Server

step 1

Clientbrowser / app

request

response

Serverthe API

You never touch the kitchen — the API is the waiter between you and the data.

Speednormal

A REST API is a contract between a client (a browser, a mobile app, another server) and a server. Think of a restaurant: you (the client) never walk into the kitchen. You give the waiter a structured order; the kitchen prepares it; the waiter brings back a structured result. The API is that waiter — a uniform way to ask for things and get answers.

CRUD ↔ verb cheat sheet

GETRead

POSTCreate

PUTReplace

PATCHUpdate

DELETEDelete

Active Recall

Question 1 / 3

Which HTTP verb should create a brand-new resource in a collection?

Under the Hood

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DNSresolving host

TCPconnecting

TLShandshake

HTTPrequesting

DSAverse

How a REST API Works

How a REST API Works