RESTful API Design Best Practices

Great APIs are intuitive, consistent, and well-documented. Let's explore how to build them.

Resource Naming

Use nouns, not verbs:

GET    /users           # List users
GET    /users/123       # Get user 123
POST   /users           # Create user
PUT    /users/123       # Update user 123
DELETE /users/123       # Delete user 123

HTTP Status Codes

Use appropriate status codes:

200 - Success
201 - Created
400 - Bad Request
401 - Unauthorized
404 - Not Found
500 - Server Error

Versioning

Always version your API:

/api/v1/users
/api/v2/users

Pagination

Handle large datasets with pagination:

{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 20,
    "total": 100,
    "pages": 5
  }
}

Error Handling

Return consistent error responses:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "message": "Email is required",
    "details": [
      { "field": "email", "message": "This field is required" }
    ]
  }
}