What is RESTful API? How It Works, Benefits and Usage

As we belong to a digital era that is strongly interconnected with advanced technologies, communication serves as the only way to bridge the gap between multiple software systems. From latest mobile applications retrieving data through different cloud-based servers to websites fetching data from multiple users, APIs serve as the building block that keeps everything in flow. 

To mention it specifically, RESTful APIs act as a backbone and the most recognised way to connect multiple web services on the basis of their performance, scalability, and simplicity. With the help of our experts, we have created a detailed blog on RESTful API while explaining its work, usage, benefits, and real-world examples.

Dive in deeper to understand the article along with some industry statistics. 

Introduction

Before we start to explore the details of RESTful APIs, it is necessary to understand the meaning behind this abbreviation. API stands for application programming interface, which can be considered as a set of rules that permit multiple software applications to communicate easily. Let’s suppose, you are using a weather mobile application to check for the forecast.

In this case, your smartphone app or web app will connect with an API to retrieve accurate weather data from a remote server very fast. According to a survey by RapidAPI in 2023, 89% of developers are fond of using REST APIs over other architectural styles.

Moreover, approximately 60% of developers prefer to use REST APIs regularly for their tasks. 

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What is a RESTful API?

The term REST stands for Representational State Transfer. A RESTful API is a type of API that works as per the principles of REST, introduced in 2000 by Roy Fielding during his doctoral dissertation. It is based on the standard HTTP methods, which makes it a popular choice for web services.

In a beginner-friendly tone, RESTful API is the interface through which different apps can easily connect over the web by the virtue of HTTP protocols. Let us read further to understand the work of this programming interface.

How Does a RESTful API Work?

RESTful APIs work by paying attention to the following principles. These help to explain the overall architecture of these APIs. By understanding these principles, individuals can easily learn how RESTful APIs are flexible, scalable, and easy to integrate with different services. 

1.    Statelessness

The primary rules in REST revolve around statelessness. This means that each API request should be capable of containing complete information that is needed by the server to understand and process the request.  Individuals must also know that the server does not store any kind of client session data during the requests.

It is beneficial as the server is free of any obligations to remember previous interactions. As a result, the scalability of R EST services is improved. Moreover, every API request works independently due to which these services are considered maintainable and cacheable.

2.    Client-Server Architecture

The client-server architecture serves as an important principle for the APIs. REST prominently divides the server and the client through which both sides can work independently without interruption. The client here is responsible for managing the user interface and user experience of the website or web app.

The server, on the other hand, manages the entire business logic, data storage, and processing of the website or web app. This makes a difference because a single RESTful API helps a mobile application and a web application to work separately without breaking the system.

3.    Uniform Interface

Having a uniform interface makes it simpler for the systems to communicate consistently without any interruption. it is done by using a standardised set of conventions along with the seamless set of resource-based URLs. Moreover, consistent data formats like JSON are used for this type of communication.

It is beneficial for developers as they get the chance to work with multiple APIs efficiently by going through the same set of structures and conventions. The standard HTTP methods used for this include,

•    GET – Retrieve data
•    POST – Create new resources
•    PUT – Update existing resources
•    DELETE – Remove resources

4.    Resource-Based

When talking about REST, everything serves as a resource for the web. Being treated as a resource means to consider everything else piece of data that becomes accessible through an accurate URL. Developers must know that resources are identified using uniform resource identifiers, also known as the URIs.

To make it simpler, consider a resource as a box of data, while a URI plays the role of an address through which one can reach the box. Most probably, resources are represented using JSON or XML, which are the standard formats. 

Remember that each resource must have a logical and meaningful endpoint to provide an accurate landing page address.  For instance, the right resource URL for product 123 will be, (products/orders/123) 

5.    Layered System

RESTful APIs consist of a layered architecture through which multiple components can be easily organised in different layers. Every individual layer is responsible for handling particular tasks like load balancing, data storage, and security.  

For instance, a cache layer can respond to frequent requests without the need to connect with a back-end database every time. It helps to reduce load time while improving response time and resulting with the better user experience.  

Developers must understand that it is not Important for clients to know whether their communication with the server is direct or indirect through an intermediary like cache or a proxy. This way, the overall performance, security, and flexibility can be improved.

6.    Cacheability

Caching serves as a prominent benefit of the RESTful interface. It helps to lower the requirement for repeated identical requests, hence improving the user experience and performance of apps. 

According to a report by Cloudflare, caching helps to cut down the overall bandwidth costs by approximately 60% while drastically reducing server loads. 

Common HTTP Methods Used

The Lifecycle of RESTful API

Below we have discussed the overall life cycle of a RESTful API to explain how it operates.

•    Start with an individual user opening an app like Instagram or Facebook.
•    The app will send a GET request to its particular API endpoint/user/123.
•    The respective server will process this request and reply by sending a JSON response. 
•    The app will finally display the user's profile according to the data received. 

Benefits of RESTful APIs

In the world of modern software development, RESTful API’s serve as the basic structure with plenty of benefits. these interfaces are lightweight, faster, and beginner friendly. this makes them an iconic choice for professional developers and relatable businesses.
By complying with the principles of the REST architecture, API successfully provided plenty of benefits for websites and web apps that boost the overall performance, integration, scalability, and user experience. Continue reading to learn about all the benefits that

RESTful APIs provide.

1.    Simplicity and Ease of Use

The minimal design of RESTful APIs makes them straightforward and intuitive for the users. According to a Stack Overflow Developer Survey from 2023, approximately 72% of developers use the RESTful APIs for their strong support and simplicity. No matter if you are a new developer in the market or one with enough experience, this interface can be easily accessed by everyone.  

It requires the standard HTTP methods like PUT, DELETE, POST, and GET, which are beginner-friendly and popular among professionals. The data, here is returned in JSON—a human-readable and lightweight format. Also, this API forms simple and accurate URL structures, which enhance the productivity during development and reduce learning curves. 

2.    Scalability

As mentioned earlier, each RESTful API is stateless by nature. Every request consists of detailed information that helps the server to process it. Hence, it is considered highly scalable.  For this reason, the popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook make the most of RESTful API to make sure they can easily support countless requests every second while handling concurrent users.

Also, these API's enable the addition of new servers to the system without any need to alter the session history or user state.  The two most common cloud-based services Asure and AWS can quickly scale RESTful APIs according to the traffic being generated.

3.    Platform and Language Independence

One of the most prominent benefits of RESTful API’s is their language and platform independence. No matter if the front end of your application is developed using Angular, Vue, or React whereas the back end is developed through PHP, Java, or Python.  Developers can easily create strong communication bridge by using RESTful APIs.

Moreover, a single REST API can help different services like IoT devices, web apps, and smartphone apps—either Android or iOS to connect with each other.  For instance, business professionals may utilise RESTful API’s to easily access the same data set for their desktop browsers, admin panels, and mobile applications.

4.    Improved Performance through Caching

RESTful APIs offer HTTP caching through which developers can easily reduce the server load and boost performance. It is because Google reports that caching can decrease latency by approximately 90% for returning users. As a result, apps can provide a better user experience in a quick time.

This is done by temporarily saving frequently accessed data as it keeps clients from making repetitive requests. It is considered as the finest benefit for large-scale enterprise applications and ecommerce-based platforms with higher amounts of traffic.

5.    Modular and Reusable Architecture

RESTful APIs break down most functionalities into independent resources as it helps to make the system modular.  This way, developers can easily reuse each of these components across multiple projects or applications. 

Every endpoint here particularly serves a specific function, through which the API becomes more manageable and easier to test. For instance, (ABC/orders /customers/products)

6.    Faster Development and Integration

The standard structure of REST helps professionals to easily develop and integrate APIs into different applications.  The public REST APIs are available everywhere through which developers can easily use them without needing any typical setup.

Experts recommend tools like Swagger, Insomnia, and Postman to make sure everyone without any technical knowledge can work on the documentation and testing of their projects.  First time business owners can also benefit from such APIs as a single one can help them to work on different functionalities like e-mail, payment, SMS, and more.

7.    Widespread Support and Community

REST serves as a highly established standard supported by a massive developer community globally.  Most of the programming languages and frameworks across the market consist of built-in support for RESTful API calls.

Moreover, developers can easily find an extensive collection of tutorials, prebuilt libraries, and the documentation on the web for help.  according to reports, more than 80% of developers on the market utilise RESTful APIs for their work, which makes it the most popular API architecture all over the world.

8.    Security Compatibility

Regardless of being stateless, RESTful API support strong security mechanisms like HTTPS encryption to prevent any kind of data interception. Also, they make the most of API keys and rate limiting to manage user access and usage.

Interestingly, RESTful APIs can smoothly integrate with enterprise level security systems. it makes them an ideal choice for different applications in the sectors of healthcare, banking, and more. Besides, this API uses the OAuth 2.0 to implement token-based user authentication. 

9.    Excellent Compatibility with Microservices

Because the business world is shifting towards a microservices architecture, RESTful APIs serve as a strong communication layer between countless independent services.  Professionals can easily develop, deploy, and scale any service independently. 

It boosts modularity and makes the application development process more flexible and agile for professionals.  For instance, if you run an ecommerce storefront, try using the REST API To interconnect different micro services like product service, payment service, and order management service operating independently.

10.    Great for Public APIs and Third-Party Integration

RESTful APIs serve as an ideal choice for businesses looking to share their services with third-party partners or developers. For instance, companies like Twitter, Spotify, Google, and more support RESTful APIs used in countless third-party applications.

It is because the REST architecture makes APIs more discoverable and self-descriptive. This helps developers to easily adapt their structure.  According to the experts, approximately 70% of public APIs are RESTful, which proves their popularity in the API market.

Real-World Usage of RESTful APIs

RESTful APIs are being used across every digital service that you interact with.  Below we have discussed a few examples for explaining web usage in major industries.

• Mobile Applications

Smartphone applications like Instagram, Uber, WhatsApp, and more use REST API for sending and receiving user data such as images, live location, and messages.

• E-commerce Platforms

REST API are used by online stores to easily integrate their payments, users, and products with third party services and databases like Stripe or PayPal.

• Healthcare Systems

Healthcare sectors use RESTful APIs to securely organise all of their patient databases, appointment systems, electronic health records, and more easily.

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The globally used AI based tools such as image recognition and ChatGPT use RESTful API for enabling external access to their powerful models.

• Banking and Finance

RESTful APIs support open banking as they help to manage customer authentication, financial data sharing, and most importantly secure transactions.

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Tools for Working with RESTful APIs

Below we have mentioned a few tools that you can use to build or test RESTful APIs. 

RESTful API vs. Other Architectures

Here is a comparison table to differentiate between RESTful APIs and other architectures. 

Final Thoughts

RESTful APIs provide the basic structure for software development in today’s modern world. From building a new app to developing your own venture for APU services, understanding RESTful API is necessary. Hope you have understood the complete details about this interface. Get ready to provide robust and scalable solutions all over the market. 

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