5 Types of HTTP Verbs and their Use in RESTful API

People usually get confused regarding the connection between HTTP and RESTful API. However, the link between these two makes a website run its function in order to perform any task and they have a vital role in any cloud-based software. So, HTTP is a protocol that deals with the fetching of resources such as HTML pages or documents, and used for an exchange of data between client and server.  

On the other hand, Restful API works as a pathway for communication between the application and the server. So, whenever a client makes a request to perform any task through a website, this request moves forward from the client (browser) to the app server. After processing of data, the output is provided to the user (client) either in the form of JSON or XML. Here, Restful API makes all of this bidirectional communication possible between the app and server. For the execution of all types of client-server operations, RESTful API needs particular HTTP methods to make a call to the server. These methods are commonly known as HTTP verbs.

What is the HTTP Verbs?

HTTP allows different methods to indicate the action that has to be performed according to the resources. Each method or verb has a specific function to perform its action.

GET

This verb only retrieves the source's representation, and it has nothing to do with its modification. That's the reason for which the GET method is safe as it doesn't change the state of the resource. This method makes sure to keep the integrity of the source(s) even if there are multiple requests being generated at the same time.

A standard way to call GET requests from the client using cURL,

GET http://localhost:3000/home?foo=bar

GET method can also be used to send a request body to the server, courtesy layered design of HTTP/1.1. But this is something that is not practiced and used by a majority of devs’ communities neither all servers support it. This method is widely used in API.

POST

This method creates a new resource in the system upon its call and usage. The resource creation can range from either a new entry within the database or a file submitted to the file system of the server or both. Shortly put, the POST request sends data to the server. It is typically sent through an HTML form and also contains a request body that contains the resources’ information in the form of key-value pairs.  

When a POST verb creates a resource on the main server, it should respond with HTTP code 201 (Created). It should also describe the status of the request by referring it to the new resource. There are such cases in which URI can't identify the resource that is produced by the POST method. For that purpose, it can respond with HTTP code 200 (OK) or 204 (No Content) as the response status.

PUT

The PUT method updates the primary resource. If the resource doesn't exist, then it depends upon the condition of whether it should create a new resource or not. When the PUT verb creates a new resource, the main server must respond to the client's agent through HTTP code 201 (Created). If it updates the existing resource, the response should be provided with HTTP code 200 (OK) or 204 (No Content).

Meanwhile, the Request-URI recognizes all recently cached bodies when a request goes through a cache. The responses to this verb are not cacheable, so those entries are considered useless. The key difference between POST and PUT is the fact that PUT is idempotent, meaning that running it more than once will not result in the change of the resource’s state, unlike POST. Therefore, if you want to create a new resource, use POST. If you want to update an existing resource fully, always use POST.

DELETE

The DELETE method simply deletes the resource(s). When a request is successfully deleted, the response must be HTTP code 200 (OK). Besides this, if there is an entity that describes the status, then it can respond with code 202 (Accepted). In case there is no status description, the response can be 204 (No Content).

DELETE actions are unchangeable, so when you delete a resource, it is wiped out from the set of resources. If you use the DELETE method again, it will not make any changes. However, it will return a 404 (NOT FOUND) as it has already been deleted. It is always advised to use DELETE with extreme caution as its changes are irreversible.

PATCH

The PATCH method makes a limited update in a resource. Although the PUT method can also make an update in a resource, the PATCH method is the appropriate way to do it.

If you want to partially update the field(s) of your resource or add a new resource, always use PATCH. If you want to override the existing resource, use PUT. PATCH request can be either idempotent or non-idempotent depending upon how it is being used. This method, however, is not widely used in RESTful API unlike GET and POST request types.

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