REST (Representational State Transfer) is the dominant web API architecture. Principles include: statelessness (each request contains all needed information), resource-based URLs (/users/123), HTTP methods mapping to operations (GET=read, POST=create, PUT=update, DELETE=delete), and standard status codes (200 OK, 404 Not Found, 500 Error). RESTful APIs return data in JSON or XML format. Best practices: use nouns not verbs in URLs, version your API (/v1/users), implement pagination for lists, use proper HTTP status codes, and document with OpenAPI/Swagger. REST's simplicity and HTTP compatibility made it the web API standard.
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REST API
Architectural style for designing networked applications using HTTP methods to perform CRUD operations on resources.
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