7 Benefits of Using RESTful APIs
RESTful or REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for designing networked applications. REST APIs provide an interface for systems to exchange information and communicate effectively.
Prominent applications like Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify have adopted the REST architecture due to its simplicity, scalability, and compatibility.
To design these APIs, developers need to follow the REST principles. There are several benefits of using REST APIs. Find the most notable ones that make them preferable over other API architectural styles.
1. Scalable
An outstanding benefit of using REST APIs is that they are easily scalable. REST optimizes stateless client-server interactions that reduce server load.
Each request is independently processed, so the server doesn’t retain past request information. The independence increases performance if you are working with multiple servers. A stateful server-side retains request information that bloats its capacity and reduces performance.
Additionally,REST APIs are flexible, and developers can easily integrate them with other architectures. These features make REST a favorite for seamless communication and accelerated performance.
2. Uniform Interface
Applications and servers may not be compatible because of the differing technologies. Not having a standard communication protocol can lead to discrepancies in data exchange. REST APIs have a uniform interface allowing systems to communicate regardless of technology.
REST has a guideline on how to handle client and server sessions. The API design has a standard format that includes how to format requests and responses. For example, clients can interact with API resources usingHTTP methods.
The server responds to requests with resource representation in JSON or XML format. A uniform interface ensures that the transfer of information is in a standard format.
3. Cacheable
Caching is a critical aspect of the performance and scalability of modern applications. Caching involves storing copies of frequently accessed data along the request-response path.
When a client makes a request, it first goes through a cache to check whether it’s available. If available, the cache responds immediately without going to the server. This feature saves network bandwidth and reduces page load time.
The stateless nature of REST makes caching easier. It is one of its architectural constraints. REST caches all sessions eliminating some client-server interactions. The server independently processes requests from REST APIs, reducing the average response time.
Browsers often cache GET requests so that not all requests have to go to the server. You can also configure Cache-Control and headers for POST and other requests.
4. Independence and Modularity
The REST architecture completely separates the client and the server. The separation simplifies the interface and allows components to operate independently. The interface allows one-way communication between clients and servers. Clients make requests to the server, and the server responds. But servers cannot make requests, nor can clients respond.
The separation is essential as changes on the server side don’t affect the client and vice-versa. you’re able to make changes to the database without affecting the application. The independence increases the flexibility and scalability of your application.
5. Uses Standard HTTP Methods
The RESTful API design allows communication between clients and servers. A set of standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE make this possible. A client uses these methods to statelessly retrieve and add resources to the server.
HTTP is a popular protocol that you may be already familiar with. This familiarity makes using the HTTP methods along with REST APIs easier. Each method has a self-explanatory name that identifies what they are used for.
The following code shows how to create a GET API endpoint using Python and Django. To explore the remaining code for other HTTP methods, you can refer to our comprehensive guide onbuilding a REST API in Django.
6. Flexible and Compatible
REST APIs are independent of technologies, making them compatible with any software system. As a developer, you could modify a REST API to suit your use case. The design supports a majority of the modern programming languages. So you can write code for both client and server-side applications.
Also, REST APIs use JSON as a preferred data format type. But clients can also request data in other formats like XML. Clients specify the data type using the headers, and the API returns responses based on that.
Separation of the client and the server side adds to the independence of components. The design allows the modification and scaling of components without interfering with the other.
7. Efficient
Because of their stateless nature, REST APIs process requests faster than others. Statelessness means that the API does not keep records of previous requests. The server treats each request as a new task.
Whenever a client sends in a request, it has to contain all the necessary information needed to process it. The server then processes it faster because it’s dealing with one data request at a time. It’s also not overloaded with transactions that may hinder processing speed.
Apart from improving the application performance, statelessness makes it easier to scale the API. The software traffic can increase without developers expanding memory space or worrying about server overloads.
How to Use REST APIs
REST APIs available to the public will always have accompanying documentation. The documentation generally specifies how to implement the API and its components. The documentation also includes information on how to consume the API endpoints.
A majority of APIs use an API key. An API key is a string of characters that authorize your identity. Usually, you generate this key from the API website. The key authorizes you to gain access to resources that are made available through the API.
You cantest the REST APIs on tools like Postmanand Swagger. These tools help to visualize and review API requests and responses using HTTP methods. They also have options to visualize data in JSON or XML formats.
Why Adopt the REST Architecture?
REST APIs are gaining relevance as the best architecture for building fast and robust APIs. They enable communication between systems regardless of technology, size, and capabilities.
The REST architecture assures an application of powerful innovative systems that scale on demand. You can also use REST APIs alongside other API architectures like Apache Kafka. If you want to build a world-class application, consider using REST APIs.
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