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About RESTful APIs
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REST is a style of software architecture that provides a convenient and consistent approach to requesting and modifying data.
The term REST is short for "Representational State Transfer." In the context of Google APIs, it refers to using HTTP verbs to retrieve and modify representations of data stored by Google.
In a RESTful system, resources are stored in a data store; a client sends a request that the server perform a particular action (such as creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting a resource), and the server performs the action and sends a response, often in the form of a representation of the specified resource.
In Google's RESTful APIs, the client specifies an action using an HTTP verb such as POST, GET, PUT, or DELETE. It specifies a resource by a globally-unique URI of the following form:
https://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters
Because all API resources have unique HTTP-accessible URIs, REST enables data caching and is optimized to work with the web's distributed infrastructure.
You may find the method definitions in the HTTP 1.1 standards documentation useful; they include specifications for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC."],[[["REST is an architectural style for exchanging data using standard HTTP methods like `GET`, `POST`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`."],["Google APIs implement REST, allowing clients to interact with Google's data by sending HTTP requests to specific resource URIs."],["RESTful systems rely on unique URIs for resources, enabling efficient caching and leveraging web infrastructure."],["Clients request actions on data stored by the server, which then performs the action and responds, often with a representation of the resource."]]],["REST is a software architecture style employing HTTP verbs to interact with data. Clients send requests to servers to perform actions like creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting resources. Resources are identified by unique URIs, structured as `https://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters`. The server executes the requested action and responds. Common HTTP verbs used include `POST`, `GET`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`, defining the specific action. This structure supports data caching and is optimized for web infrastructure.\n"]]
