[Infographic] REST 101: An Introduction to RESTful APIs

  August 08, 2016

Imagine if every PhD dissertation resulted in something that changed the world?

That’s what happened when Roy Fielding presented his doctoral dissertation on the “representational state transfer” at University of California-Irvine in 2000.

This dissertation laid the groundwork for the staggering growth of RESTful web services, which have reshaped how organizations deploy and utilize APIs. In fact, today 70% of public APIs depend on REST services.

In our newest infographic, we take a look at the language, properties, and requirements of a RESTful web service. We look at how REST compares to its well-known counterpart Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and provide tips for how to choose between the two.

REST 101 Infographic Final

The Beginner’s Guide to Using and Testing RESTful APIs

In the SmartBear REST API tutorial you will learn what exactly are RESTful Web Services and what are its best (and worst) use cases, the difference between a REST API and a SOAP API, and how to test a REST API for not only usage, but use cases.

Since this is your very own REST wiki, we will be organizing it around what REST API influencers believe are the most important things for you, as a developer, to know in order for you to build beautiful RESTful Web APIs that will actually solve your API consumers’ needs.

In this guide, you will learn:

  • What is a REST API?
  • The differences between REST & SOAP
  • When to use RESTful web services
  • An introduction to testing REST APIs
  • REST testing with SoapUI NG Pro

Get your copy.

REST 101 Cover