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Complete REST API Guide

The document outlines the fundamentals of REST APIs, including principles, HTTP methods, status codes, and endpoint design. It also covers request and response handling, authentication, security measures, error handling, performance optimization, testing tools, and documentation practices. Additionally, it presents interview questions categorized by beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels to assess knowledge of REST API concepts.

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saddubuddu1
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
11 views

Complete REST API Guide

The document outlines the fundamentals of REST APIs, including principles, HTTP methods, status codes, and endpoint design. It also covers request and response handling, authentication, security measures, error handling, performance optimization, testing tools, and documentation practices. Additionally, it presents interview questions categorized by beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels to assess knowledge of REST API concepts.

Uploaded by

saddubuddu1
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

Complete
rest Api
2
Fundamentals
Principles: Statelessness, Uniform

Interface, Cacheability, Layered System.

HTTP Methods: GET (read), POST

(create), PUT/PATCH (update), DELETE

(remove).

Status Codes: 200 (OK), 201 (Created),

400 (Bad Request), 401 (Unauthorized),

500 (Server Error).


3
Endpoint Design
Resource Naming: Nouns (e.g.,

/users), not verbs.

Versioning: URL (/v1/users) vs

Header (Accept:

application/vnd.api.v1+json).

Pagination: limit, offset, or cursor-

based.
4
Request & Response
Headers: Content-Type,

Authorization, Accept.

Body Formats: JSON

(common), XML (legacy).

Query Params: Filtering (?

status=active), sorting (?

sort=-created_at).
5

Authentication & Authorization

JWT: Stateless tokens with Bearer

scheme.

OAuth2: Flows (Authorization

Code, Client Credentials).

API Keys: Simple but less secure.


6
Security
HTTPS: Mandatory for

production.

CORS: Control cross-origin

requests.

Rate Limiting: Prevent abuse

(e.g., X-RateLimit-Limit).
7
Error Handling
Standardized Errors: { error: {

code: 404, message: "Not

Found" } }.

Validation Errors: 400 with

details (e.g., "email must be

valid").
8
Performance
Caching: Cache-Control headers,

ETags.

Compression: Gzip/Deflate

responses.

Lazy Loading: Partial responses (?

fields=id,name).
9
Testing
Tools: Postman, Swagger,

supertest.

Test Cases: Happy path,

edge cases, auth failures.


10
Documentation
OpenAPI/Swagger:

Machine-readable specs.

Examples:

Request/response

samples.
11

Advanced Topics
HATEOAS: Hypermedia-driven

navigation.

GraphQL vs REST: When to use

each.
Interview
Questions
Beginner-Level Questions
1. What are RESTful APIs, and what constraints do they follow?

2. Explain common HTTP methods and their idempotency.

3. How do you differentiate between PUT and PATCH?

4. What status code would you return after a successful

resource creation?

5. How would you design a /users endpoint for CRUD

operations?

6. What is the purpose of the Accept and Content-Type

headers?

7. Why is HTTPS critical for REST APIs?

8. How do you handle a "Resource Not Found" scenario?

9. What are query parameters, and how are they used?

10. How would you version an API?


Intermediate Level Questions
1. How do you implement pagination in a REST API?

2. Explain JWT authentication flow for APIs.

3. What is CORS, and how do you configure it?

4. How would you rate-limit an API endpoint?

5. Design an endpoint for bulk operations (e.g., delete

multiple users).

6. How do you handle file uploads in a REST API?

7. What are ETags, and how do they optimize performance?

8. How would you document an API for developers?

9. Explain the trade-offs between API versioning strategies.

10. How do you validate request payloads?


Advance Level Questions
1. How would you design an API for a real-time

collaboration tool?

2. Implement HATEOAS in a product catalog API.

3. Secure an API against SQL injection and XSS.

4. Optimize an API for high latency mobile clients.

5. Design a caching strategy for a read-heavy API.

6. How would you migrate an API from REST to GraphQL?

7. Implement idempotency for a payment processing API.

8. Handle partial failures in a batch API request.

9. Design a webhook system for event notifications.

10. How would you scale an API to 1M+ requests per

minute?

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