DEV Community

Cover image for Attributes of good REST APIs
Abhinav Pandey
Abhinav Pandey

Posted on • Edited on

Attributes of good REST APIs

APIs are the backbone of a successful application architecture and REST APIs are the most popular way of creating web services.

The genie says there are 3 rules - no wishing for death, no falling in love and no bring back dead people. The person asks,

Below is a concise list of best practices to use while designing REST APIs.

1. Consistency of HTTP methods

  • GET /api/v1/threads - to get a list of all threads
  • GET /api/v1/threads/14 - get a single thread with id 14
  • POST /api/v1/threads - add a new thread to collection
  • PUT /api/v1/threads/14 - update thread with id 14
  • DELETE /api/v1/threads/14 - update thread with id 14

2. Versioning

  • Version is part of the endpoint
  • This gives the possibility to support multiple live versions of the same API. E.g. Twitter has API versions 1.1 and 2.0 - both are live and accessible.
  • Enables easy switching and rollback for consumers of the API

3. Use standard HTTP error codes

  • HTTP response codes were created to describe the semantics of an API response.
  • Return standard error codes and let the consumer handle the errors in their own way. Always include a message in your errors for troubleshooting purposes.

Drake says no to 200 OK with and error message embedded in response. He says yes to 401 Unauthorized or any other semantic HTTP error code with an error detail embedded.

4. Endpoint conventions

  • Plural nouns for collections and no verbs
    E.g. "threads" is used instead of using verbs like /getThread, /updateThread

  • Resource nesting is visible in the endpoint
    E.g.

    • GET /api/v1/threads/14/tweets
    • GET /api/v1/threads/14/tweets/2

5. Security

  • Use TLS/SSL
  • Use authentication and authorization to avoid malicious requests
  • Set up rate limiting and caching to prevent against DoS attacks

6. Performance

  • Use caching(in-memory or CDN) to provide fast results for repeated GET requests

  • A good API has pagination and filtering capabilities to reduce the amount of data being transferred. Data transfer objects should not include unnecessary fields.

7. Documentation

  • The least requirements of a method documentation - description, request parameters, response, error scenarios.

  • Definitely include request/response samples to provide the full picture.

Also check - https://swagger.io/specification/

My final suggestion is to make API designing process the starting point of your backend architecture and build other architectural components around it.


Thanks for reading.

I hope this was useful in providing a checklist of points to take care of while designing APIs.

If you want to connect with me, you can find me on Twitter

Top comments (6)

Collapse
 
koladev profile image
Mangabo Kolawole

This looks very interesting.

I follow all these rules but not the Plural nouns for collections. After all, tbh it makes sense

Collapse
 
abh1navv profile image
Abhinav Pandey

Thanks Kola 💜

Collapse
 
manuelbrs profile image
Juan Manuel Bello

Good article

Collapse
 
abh1navv profile image
Abhinav Pandey

Thanks 😊

Collapse
 
shivasandupatla profile image
Shiva

Best way of explanation.

Collapse
 
abh1navv profile image
Abhinav Pandey

Thank you 😊