REST API
A REST API is a web interface that exposes resources over HTTP using standard methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and JSON, making data easy to read, cache, and integrate.
REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for APIs. Resources — like users or orders — are addressed by URLs and manipulated with HTTP verbs. Because it's plain HTTP and JSON, every language and tool already understands it.
A key advantage of REST is caching: GET responses cache at the browser, CDN, and proxy layers with no extra work. This makes REST APIs fast and scalable for read-heavy workloads.
Modern REST APIs can be generated directly from a database schema, adding filtering, ordering, pagination, and related-resource embedding without hand-written controllers.
Related terms
REST API in Kolaybase
See it in practice
Kolaybase gives you PostgreSQL, auth, storage, and a REST API in minutes.