{"id":15128,"date":"2018-02-01T17:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T17:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/restful-api\/"},"modified":"2018-02-01T17:38:52","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T17:38:52","slug":"restful-api","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api","title":{"rendered":"RESTful API"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_restful_api_mean\">What Does RESTful API Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A RESTful API is an API that conforms to the representational state transfer or REST model. RESTful APIs are sometimes easier for developers to use because they have a familiar syntax and set of protocols. As more functionality has been built into the internet, developers have talked a lot about the benefits of RESTful architecture.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_restful_api\">Techopedia Explains RESTful API<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A RESTful architecture uses HTTP coding for much of its functionality. It uses the established Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption for security purposes. It is also language-agnostic, in a practical sense, and very compatible with many different environments.<\/p>\n<p>That is not to say that RESTful architecture does not have its limitations. One big example that developers have talked about extensively is the lack of state-based data transfer in RESTful architectures. As a result, applications must be stateless, or be supplemented with some outside resource that adds in the desired state information. Again, the simplicity enabled by RESTful architecture means it still enjoys some popular use in the developer community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does RESTful API Mean? A RESTful API is an API that conforms to the representational state transfer or REST model. RESTful APIs are sometimes easier for developers to use because they have a familiar syntax and set of protocols. As more functionality has been built into the internet, developers have talked a lot about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[246,241,216],"class_list":["post-15128","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-api-management","definitioncat-computer-science","definitioncat-software-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is a RESTful API? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of RESTful API and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RESTful API\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of RESTful API and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"RESTful API\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-01T17:38:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api\"},\"wordCount\":175,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/33060\/restful-api\",\"name\":\"What is a RESTful API? 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