REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for building web services. RESTful APIs use HTTP requests to POST (create), PUT (update), GET (read), and DELETE (delete) data.
A REST API defines a set of functions in which developers can perform requests and receive responses via HTTP protocols such as GET and POST. When a client makes a request to a REST API, it typically sends an HTTP request to a specific endpoint (or URL) with a specific HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE). The server then responds to the request with a status code indicating the outcome of the request, and a response body that may contain the requested data or a description of the error.
The key characteristic of a RESTful API is that it uses a uniform interface, which makes it possible for clients written in different programming languages to communicate with the API. REST APIs are widely used for building web-based applications, microservices, and mobile applications.