Readings: HTTP and REST

• The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless request-response application layer protocol.

• HTTP is often associated with serving .html files but is also used to transfer images, videos, .json, .xml, binary executables, and much more.

• A HTTP/1.1 request is formatted in text and transferred using TCP. The first line of the request contains the METHOD, URL, and HTTP VERSION.

• A HTTP/1.1 response is also formatted in text and transferred using TCP. The first line of the response contains the HTTP VERSION, STATUS CODE, and STATUS MESSAGE.

• REST is acronym for REpresentational State Transfer. In layman’s terms, is a means by which we can reference, manipulate, and transfer state. Rest uses a common set of methods (called “verbs”) to operate on the state of a resource (“noun”), generally using HTTP as the transfer protocol.

• A “RESTful Endpoint” is a URI that identifies the resource. When addressed with a proper method, you are able to effect state. In normal terms, this means “Performing CRUD operations over HTTP”.

REST Method	CRUD Operation	Function
GET	READ	Retrieve 1 or More Records
POST	CREATE	Create a new record
PUT	UPDATE	Update a record through replacement (Put it back)
PATCH	UPDATE	Update a record (just the parts that changed)
DESTROY	DELETE\Remove a record