Well-designed APIs are the backbone of modern applications. Learn the best practices for building RESTful APIs that scale.

1. Use Nouns for Resources

Resources should be nouns, not verbs:

// ✅ Good
GET    /users
GET    /users/123
POST   /users
PUT    /users/123
DELETE /users/123

// ❌ Bad
GET    /getUsers
POST   /createUser
DELETE /deleteUser/123

2. Use Proper HTTP Methods

  • GET - Retrieve resources (idempotent)
  • POST - Create new resources
  • PUT - Update entire resource
  • PATCH - Partial update
  • DELETE - Remove resource

3. Use Proper Status Codes

// Success
200 OK           - Request succeeded
201 Created      - Resource created
204 No Content   - Successful, no body

// Client Errors
400 Bad Request  - Invalid syntax
401 Unauthorized - Auth required
404 Not Found    - Resource not found

// Server Errors
500 Internal Error - Server failed

Pro Tip

Always return consistent error response format with error code, message, and details.

4. Versioning Your API

// URL versioning (recommended)
GET /api/v1/users
GET /api/v2/users

// Header versioning
GET /api/users
Accept: application/vnd.api+json;version=1

5. Pagination & Filtering

// Pagination
GET /users?page=2&limit=20

// Filtering
GET /users?status=active&role=admin

// Sorting
GET /users?sort=-created_at,name

// Response with metadata
{
  "data": [...],
  "meta": {
    "total": 100,
    "page": 2,
    "limit": 20
  }
}

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