Architectural Constraints in RESTful APIs

REST or Representational State Transfer is an architectural style to design loosely coupled application interfaces over the network.

REST does not forces any lower limit, but does offer some constraints under which the APIs should designed.

If we have to name them they are :

1. Uniform Interface

2. Client-Server

3. Stateless

4. Cacheable

5. Layered System

6. Code on demand

   

Any API following these constraints is known as "TRUE REST API" (just like your turuuu love ;) )

So now as we know their names lets start discussing each one of them one by one:

1. Uniform Interface - All the resources to be exposed should be first decided in the system internally and then should be religiously followed, a resource should only have only one logical resource URI, and that should provide a way to fetch related or additional data.
   The resource representation should be synonymous across the system to make it simpler to understand

2. Client-Server - REST APIs use a client-server architecture, where the client is the application that makes requests to the API, and the server is the application that responds to those requests.

   This is required to create a separation of concern among the requesting and responding entity

3. Statelessness - REST APIs are stateless, which means that each request from the client must contain all of the information that the server needs to process it. This helps to improve performance and scalability, as the server does not need to keep track of the state of each client.

   Improves scalability of service as there is no need to retain state to process the request

4. Cacheable - REST APIs should be designed to be cacheable, which means that the client can store responses from the server in memory for later use. This can improve performance by reducing the number of requests that need to be made to the server.

5. Layered system - REST APIs can be designed as a layered system, where each layer provides a specific set of functionality. This can help to improve scalability and security, as each layer can be implemented independently.
   Also when you want to bring in an update in your service this makes things easier

6. Code on demand - REST APIs can support code on demand, which means that the server can provide the client with executable code. This can be used to implement features such as client-side scripting and dynamic content generation.
   This decreases the load on the client and helps it work in a desired manner

In conclusion, REST APIs are a powerful tool that can be used to build scalable, efficient, and easy-to-use web services. By following the architectural constraints of REST, you can ensure that your APIs are designed to be successful. I hope this blog post has given you a better understanding of the architectural constraints of REST APIs. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below 🤗