Making HTTP Requests

API basics

To delete: get a patch to put on the post

REST APIs uses common HTTP methods

• 39 HTTP methods exist
• 5 HTTP methods typically used in APIs, corresponding to the CRUD principle
  • CRUD = Create Read Update Delete
    
    
• GET: retrieves information (without changing the information)
• POST: creates new information (based on the values passed to the API)
• PUT: updates information
• PATCH: updates information
• DELETE: deletes information
  

PUT vs. PATCH

PUT and PATCH are both used to update information, but there’s a big difference!

PUT is a method that updates the entire resource (= record / object)
→ it overwrites the entire existing resource

PATCH is a method that updates a portion of the resource
→ it only updates the fields/attributes you send to the API

Endpoints and parameters

API endpoint = digital location where requests are sent to (server side)
APIs usually have multiple endpoints

To address an endpoint, the client must provide:

• A Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
• A method (GET, POST, …)
• A list of headers
  • Provides metadata about the request
• A body
  • Contains the data sent by the client to the server
  • Not every request contains a body

API parameters: options that can be passed with the endpoint
Goal: influence the endpoint's response → filtering
Added by adding a question mark (?) after the endpoint, followed by the parameter name, an equal sign (=) and the parameter value

Syntax: https://www.myapi.com/endpoint?parametername=parametervalue

Multiple parameters can be passed if necessary
Parameters are separated by an ampersand (&)

Syntax: https://www.myapi.com/endpoint?first=firstvalue&second=secondvalue

Try it out!

Go to https://v2.jokeapi.dev/ and scroll down to the section 'Try it out here'
Try out some of the options and watch how it influences the full URL
Copy the link and make a GET request from Postman