1. Introduction to RESTful APIs

In this chapter, we'll introduce the concept of RESTful APIs, discussing their benefits and principles. We'll also highlight the importance of adhering to the principles for building scalable and maintainable APIs.

RESTful APIs (Representational State Transfer) are a set of architectural constraints and principles used for designing networked applications. REST emphasizes simplicity, scalability, and loose coupling between clients and servers. It operates over the HTTP protocol and leverages its methods and status codes. The primary benefits of RESTful APIs include easy integration, platform independence, and the ability to leverage existing HTTP infrastructure.