You're reading from RESTful API Design Patterns and Best Practices Master REST API design with real-world patterns, lifecycle management, and OpenAPI practices

Product type Paperback

Published in Oct 2025

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781835885284

Length 406 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

JavaScript

Tools

.NET

Concepts

REST API

Authors (2):

Andrzej Jarzyna

Samir Amzani

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Table of Contents (20) Chapters

Preface

1. The Apprentice’s Study – Preparing for the Craft

2. The “Why” of API Development FREE CHAPTER

3. API as a Product: Designing APIs with a Product Mindset

4. Understanding Application and API Lifecycles

5. Applying Domain-Driven Design to APIs

6. The Wizard’s Grimoire – Mastering the Fundamentals of REST

7. Comparing and Choosing the Right API Style

8. REST Design Constraints and Maturity Models

9. Constructing an API Design Domain Model

10. Designing and Managing Effective API Contracts

11. The Archmage’s Circle – Forging and Evolving API Contracts

12. Understanding the OpenAPI Specification

13. OpenAPI as a Contract: Best Practices and Implementation

14. Using JSON Schema to Define Your Object Models

15. Don’t Hate Your Hypermedia: Creating APIs for Humans and AIs

16. API Change Management: Strategies for Versioning and Evolution

17. Unlock Your Book’s Exclusive Benefits

How to unlock these benefits in three easy steps

18. Other Books You May Enjoy

19. Index

Summary

In this chapter, we explored the core concept of API styles, which shape how an API is structured, interacts with clients, and communicates data. We delved into the four major API style families—function-based, resource-based, query-based, and event-based—each designed to meet specific system requirements and use cases. The chapter emphasized the resource-based API style, particularly REST, highlighting its scalability, simplicity, and alignment with web standards, making it one of the most popular choices in modern web applications.

We discussed how choosing the right API style can have a profound impact on factors such as scalability, flexibility, and developer experience. Whether building APIs for real-time systems, highly dynamic data interactions, or simple resource management, understanding these styles will help developers and architects make well-informed decisions for their projects.

By now, you should have a clear understanding of the following...