RESTful API Design Best Practices

RESTful Principles

REST uses HTTP methods for operations: GET (read), POST (create), PUT (update), DELETE (remove). Key principles: stateless, uniform interface, resource-based URLs.

URL Design

GET    /api/users       # List users
GET    /api/users/123   # Get user 123
POST   /api/users       # Create user
PUT    /api/users/123   # Update user 123
DELETE /api/users/123   # Delete user 123

Response Format

{
  "code": 200,
  "data": { "id": 123, "name": "John" }
}

HTTP Status Codes

• 200: Success
• 201: Created
• 400: Bad Request
• 401: Unauthorized
• 404: Not Found
• 500: Server Error