Advanced API Design Patterns

REST best practices, GraphQL, gRPC, API versioning, rate limiting, and OpenAPI specifications

70 minutes

6Detailed Sections

Senior Level

REST (Representational State Transfer): architectural style using HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE). Constraints: client-server separation, statelessness, cacheability, uniform interface.

Best practices: resources as nouns (users, orders), HTTP methods as verbs (GET /users/123, POST /orders). Status codes: 2xx success, 3xx redirect, 4xx client error, 5xx server error.

Idempotence: GET, PUT, DELETE idempotent (same result repeated); POST not idempotent. Pagination: offset/limit or cursor-based (cursor better for large datasets).

Filtering: query parameters (GET /users?status=active), server-side filtering prevents large responses. Sorting: order by parameter (GET /users?sort=created_at,-name).

Real-world: Twitter API v2, GitHub API, Stripe API all use REST principles; payload size critical for mobile.

Key Takeaways

REST Principles: Resources as nouns, HTTP methods as verbs, stateless, cacheable

Status Codes: 200 OK, 201 Created, 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 404 Not Found, 500 Error

Idempotence: GET/PUT/DELETE idempotent (safe to retry); POST not idempotent

Pagination: Cursor-based (token) better than offset/limit for large datasets

Filtering: Server-side filter (?status=active) prevents client from fetching all data

Caching: Cache headers (ETag, Last-Modified) reduce bandwidth; 304 Not Modified saves payload

Visual Diagram

GET /users -> 200 OK [users array] | POST /users -> 201 Created [new user]

All Tutorials Practice Questions

Advanced API Design Patterns

Table of Contents

REST API Best Practices and Constraints

Key Takeaways

Visual Diagram

GraphQL: Query Language for APIs

gRPC: High-Performance Protocol Buffers

API Versioning Strategies

OpenAPI and API Documentation

Case Studies: API Design at Scale