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# RESTful API Tutorial !(#) In modern web development, RESTful API has become the standard way for communication between applications. REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architectural style, proposed by Dr. Roy Fielding in 2000. REST defines a set of constraints and principles for creating scalable, loosely coupled web services. RESTful API is an API designed following the REST architectural style. It uses the features of the HTTP protocol, locates resources through URLs, uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, etc.) to describe operations, and achieves interaction between client and server. * * * ## Who is this tutorial for? Whether you are a front-end developer needing to interact with back-end APIs, or a back-end developer needing to design API interfaces, mastering RESTful API is an essential skill. * * * ## RESTful API Characteristics? **Key Characteristics**: * **Stateless**: Each request contains all the information needed for processing * **Uniform Interface**: Use standard HTTP methods for operations * **Resource-oriented**: All content is abstracted as resources * **Cacheable**: Responses should explicitly indicate whether they are cacheable * * * ## Core Principles of RESTful API ### 1. Resources and URI In REST, everything is abstracted as a resource, and each resource has a unique identifier (URI). **URI Design Guidelines**: * Use nouns instead of verbs to represent resources * Use plural form for naming collections * Use lowercase letters and hyphens (-) * Avoid file extensions **Examples**: /users # User collection /users/123 # User with ID 123 /users/123/orders # Orders collection for user 123 ### 2. Use of HTTP Methods RESTful API fully utilizes the semantics of HTTP methods: | HTTP Method | Description | Idempotent | Safe | | --- | --- |