REST API basics

Overview

Learning how to create requests for a CRUD operation, validate your responses, and use variables efficiently can set you up for success with testing REST APIs on Postman. This template guides you through these steps and gives you a head start with testing your API.

What is a REST API?

A REST API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface) is a software architectural style used for building web services that adhere to a set of principles and constraints. REST APIs enable communication between client applications and servers by utilizing standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. They follow a stateless client-server model, where server resources are represented as URLs, and interactions are performed through requests and responses. REST APIs are widely used in web development to create scalable and flexible systems.

What does the REST API basics template contain?

The template contains:

• A customizable collection with requests for a CRUD operation

• Test scripts for each request

• A base URL variable

How to use the REST API basics template?

Think of the template as a hands-on tutorial for learning basics by interacting with a sample REST API. It provides a customizable collection of requests for CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete). Use the in-built documentation to learn more about the different types of requests and their successful response codes. Send each request given in the template to understand more about how REST APIs behave. Each request comes with test scripts for validating responses. Additionally, you can customize the base URL variable to fit your API's endpoint. By following the steps outlined in the template, you can efficiently test your REST API and gain a head start in your API testing endeavors.