REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for the design of hypermedia, i.e. Web, applications and services.

The design of Platform API follows the principles of REST, this equates to:

• exposing all important resources and services through a URL
• correctly using HTTP methods (i.e. GET, PUT, POST) to read, create, update and search data
• using (standard) Internet media types to identify and deliver service responses
• supporting content negotiation to allow clients to request alternate formats
• using correct HTTP status codes to identify responses to service requests

The Service Checklist has some additional notes on how Platform services are designed within the REST style.

Additional Reading

• A Brief Introduction to REST
• HTTP Header Status Codes
• Representational State Transfer on Wikipedia
• The REST Wiki