REST APIs
The standard way different systems talk to each other.
What it is
REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for designing web services. A REST API is an interface that lets different applications communicate over HTTP using standard methods: GET to retrieve data, POST to create it, PUT or PATCH to update it, DELETE to remove it. Every web application you use relies on REST APIs in some form.
The "API" part (Application Programming Interface) is simply the defined contract between two systems - what requests you can make, what parameters they accept, and what responses they return. REST APIs are stateless, which means each request carries all the information needed to process it without the server maintaining session state between calls.
How I use it
REST APIs are how the frontend of a website talks to its backend, how third-party services (payment processors, email platforms, mapping services, CRMs) integrate into an application, and how different internal services communicate. In a Next.js project, API routes handle server-side logic and expose endpoints that the frontend calls.
For client projects involving integrations - booking systems, e-commerce, form handling, CRM sync - REST APIs are usually the mechanism. Most modern SaaS platforms expose well-documented REST APIs that make integration straightforward.
Why this over the alternatives
REST has been the dominant API architecture for 20 years because it maps cleanly to how HTTP works, is easy to understand, and is supported everywhere. GraphQL is a valid alternative for complex data-fetching scenarios, but REST is simpler to implement, easier to cache, and sufficient for the vast majority of web application needs.
What it means for your site
- Standard protocol understood by every platform, language, and tool
- Stateless design makes APIs easy to scale and cache
- Clear separation between frontend and backend - each can be updated independently
- Enables integration with any third-party service that provides an API
Works with
Also in Backend
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