Summary

We looked at the definition of REST and how REST is derived. When you look at the REST architecture, you should be able to depict it in three categories, as explained by Roy T. Fielding. One, the process view, describes how data flows from the client to the several components. Two, the connector view is specific to the exchanging of messages between components specific to resources and resource identification. Three, the data view of how the data that we referred to as representations is transmitted from the server to the client. It is very important to have a good understanding of the REST principles and that REST was applied to HTTP 1.0 in order to derive HTTP 1.1.

HTTP is a living example of the REST principles. Actions such as GET and POST are stateless, which is a principle of REST. The examples show how to construct an HTTP request and what the server sends back as a response. With HTTP/2, we have new features coming through, which makes our transfer speed much faster and our applications more responsive.

The Richardson maturity model explains how APIs are classified; as a developer, you should aim for a level 3 model. If you are a consumer of an API, perhaps you need to choose between several options. RMM will help you make this informed decision.

In this chapter, we did not focus on specific technologies; in the next chapter, we will delve deeper into the ASP.NET Core and what it offers as a framework in order to build web APIs.