REST API and their CRUD Operations

In today's world where software applications are becoming a crucial part of our lives, the ability to retrieve, manipulate and save data is essential. REST (Representational State Transfer) API has become a popular way of achieving this objective due to its simplicity, flexibility, scalability, and reliability.

What is a REST API?

REST API is a programming interface that communicates with web services through HTTP requests using standard methods like GET, POST, PUT and DELETE. The REST API follows a client-server architecture where the client sends a request and the server responds with the requested information. The information sent between the client and server is typically in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) or XML (Extensible Markup Language) format.

What are CRUD Operations?

CRUD stands for Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete, which are the basic operations performed on data in any database or system. RESTful API is used to perform these operations on resources over the web.

CRUD operations with REST API

1. Create:

To create a new entry in a database or system, a POST request is sent to the server with the required parameters or data.

Example:

Endpoint: POST /users

Request Body:

{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "johndoe@email.com",
    "age": 25
}

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Response:

{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "johndoe@email.com",
    "age": 25
}

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1. Retrieve:

To retrieve information from a database or system, a GET request is sent to the server with the required parameters or data.

Example:

Endpoint: GET /users/1

Response:

{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "johndoe@email.com",
    "age": 25
}

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1. Update:

To update an existing entry in a database or system, a PUT or PATCH request is sent to the server with the updated values or parameters.

Example:

Endpoint: PUT /users/1

Request Body:

{
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "email": "janedoe@email.com",
    "age": 26
}

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Response:

{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "email": "janedoe@email.com",
    "age": 26
}

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1. Delete:

To delete an existing entry in a database or system, a DELETE request is sent to the server with the required parameters or data.

Example:

Endpoint: DELETE /users/1

Response:

{
    "message": "User deleted successfully"
}

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Conclusion

RESTful API provides a standard way to perform CRUD operations on a variety of resources. It is a simple, flexible and powerful tool that can be used to develop robust and scalable applications. Understanding the basics of RESTful API and CRUD operations is essential for any developer who wishes to create web services or applications.