RESTful API Designing Guidelines — The Best Practices

It is always healthy for your application to have beautifully crafted APIs

Facebook, Google, GitHub, Netflix, and a few other tech giants have given developers and products a chance to consume their data through APIs and became a platform for them.

Even if you are not writing APIs for other developers and products, it is always very healthy for your application to have beautifully crafted APIs.

There is a long debate going on on the internet about the best ways to design the APIs, and it is one of the most nuanced. There are no official guidelines defined for it.

The API is an interface through which many developers interact with the data. A well-designed API is always very easy to use and makes the developer’s life very smooth.

API is the GUI for developers, if it is confusing or not verbose, then the developer will start finding alternatives or stops using it. Developers’ experience is the most important metric to measure the quality of the APIs.

The API is like an artist performing on stage, and its users are the audience.

Terminologies

The following are the most important terms related to REST APIs.