API, REST API and RESTful API
Tags: webdev, api, programming, beginners
Published: 2022-06-02 09:16:51

REST API and RESTful API used in the modern state of client/server architecture in software development. In this article you will be introducing to APIs, Rest API and Restful APIs.

Table of content

● What is API?

● Benefits of using APIs

● What is a RESTful API and REST API?

● Endpoints REST API and RESTful APIs.

● Difference between REST API and RESTful API.

**What is API?**

Application Programme Interface abbreviated as API which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Let’s look into an example to go through with this topic,If user wants to book train tickets, web application shows the departure time, stations like that all the informations, 

![How API works](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/w4vsy5j9qx0fjxc17noc.png)
when we look in this from the developer side, developer wants to display all the train schedule informations in the web application, then developer use the APIs to get these train informations from the web server where all the train details and informations are stored. Then developers can retrieve data from the web server using the APIs to display in the web application.

**Benefits of using API**

APIs needed to make the connection between application functions to handle the data from predefined processes.

● Ease of integration: APIs can be embedded with any type of software application, So it can easily integrate with the applications and functions between different websites.

● Reduce software development effort: Using APIs reduce development efforts, developers can implement APIs of Google Maps to provide the exact store location to website visitors. In doing so, you are not going to develop a GPS-based location tracking application from the ground up. Instead, you are using the APIs of an existing application on your website or web application. This approach is a more efficient and cost-effective way to achieve the required functionality.

● Security: APIs provide a secure communication gateway for different app components to interact and exchange data.

**What is a RESTFUL API and REST API?**

**What is REST API?**

REpresentational State Transfer abbreviated to REST. It is an API that follows a set of rules for an application and services to communicate with each other.

REST APIs work by fielding requests for a resource and returning all relevant information about the resource, translated into a format that clients can easily interpret (this format is determined by the API receiving requests). Clients can also modify items on the server and even add new items to the server through a REST API.

**What is a RESTful API?**

The RESTful API is an Application Programming Interface(API) that obeys the REST architecture constraints and interacts with RESTful web services. The RESTful API also follows the principles of REST API. RESTful APIs are more scalable and have a longer lifespan. The RESTful API uses HTTP requests to access and use data. There four basic HTTP requests a client can make are:

● GET — To retrieve a resource.

● POST — To create a new resource.

● PUT — To edit or update an existing resource.

● DELETE- To delete a resource.

**Endpoints REST API and RESTful APIs.**

When a user makes a response APIs send a ‘request’ information from a web application or web server, it will receive a ‘response.’ The location where APIs send requests or where resources live are endpoints. With REST APIs, an endpoint is one end of a communication channel.

**Difference between REST API and RESTful APIs.**

Though the architecture of both REST and RESTful API is similar, they vary with a slight difference. The REST API follows all the rules of the REST Architecture. It has a client-server, stateless, cacheable, layer system with a uniform interface, whereas the RESTful web applications have all the features of the REST architecture with unique additional features .

In REST The protocol is strong, and it inherits many security measures, which are built-in architecture layers. In RESTful APIs It is multi-layer and has a transport protocol which makes the system less secure when compared with REST.

When using web services REST API working of the URL is based on request and response. The working of RESTful is completely based on REST applications.

It is highly adaptable and user-friendly to all business enterprises and IT using REST APIs.RESTful APIs It is too flexible when compared to RESTLESS web services.

In this article I’m go through some basics about APIs, REST API, RESTful API.If you guys find this article useful , share with your friends. Thank you.