“RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World” – Richardson, R. Feldman, 2013

BY KEYHUNTER 10.04.2024
“RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World” - Richardson, R. Feldman, 2013

RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World is a book written by Leonard Richardson and Mike Feldman, published in 2013. In it, the authors provide detailed guidance on designing and building web APIs using REST principles. REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style that defines rules for creating web services using the HTTP protocol.

The book covers various aspects of RESTful API design, ranging from basic REST principles and concepts to advanced topics such as API versioning, security, and scalability. The authors explain in detail how to create APIs that are easy to use and understand by developers, and also discuss best practices and current trends in this area.

The book “RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World” is designed to help developers create flexible and powerful web services that will meet the requirements of the modern world of Internet technologies. It is a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced developers who want to improve their skills in web API design and development using a RESTful approach.

RESTful Web APIs: Services for a Changing World is a book written by Leonard Richardson and Mike Amundsen (with editing by Sam Ruby) that was published in 2013. It is a continuation of their previous work, “RESTful Web Services,” and explores in detail the concepts and technologies used to create web services according to the REST architectural style.

Main themes and ideas of the book

REST Basics

The book begins by explaining the basics of REST (Representational State Transfer), an architectural style developed by Roy Fielding. The authors detail how the core principles of REST, such as statelessness, caching, interface consistency, scalability, and the use of standard HTTP methods, contribute to the creation of efficient web services.

New and old technologies for web APIs

Richardson and Amundsen discuss the various formats and protocols that can be used to create RESTful web APIs, including HTML, JSON, XML, HTTP, URIs, and others. They also look at newer standards such as JSON-LD and HAL, which provide methods for incorporating hypermedia and metadata into APIs.

Hypermedia as an Engine of Application State (HATEOAS)

One of the key REST concepts that the authors explore in detail is HATEOAS (Hypermedia As The Engine Of Application State). This is the principle that clients interact with a web service through hypermedia provided by the service itself. This means that the API must provide enough information to navigate and interact with the service without prior knowledge of the API structure.

Examples and practical recommendations

The book contains many code examples and use cases that help readers better understand how to apply theoretical knowledge in practice. The authors discuss web API front-end and back-end development, API change management, versioning, and interoperability best practices.

Security and Access Control

Security is a critical topic for any web API. Richardson and Amundsen cover various aspects of security, such as authentication, authorization, protection against various types of attacks, and encryption methods.

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