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Rest API vs. Web API: Everything You Need To Know - (r)

Apr 13, 2023
Learning about rest api vs web api

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This article will compare two commonly used methods of creating APIs: representational state transfer (REST) API and Web API.

What Is a REST API?

REST also defines multiple architectural constraints for building applications that use HTTP to communicate:

  • Client-server architecture
  • Statelessness
  • Uniform interface
  • Cacheability
  • Layered System Architecture
  • Code on demand

REST is easier to use in comparison to other API protocols or architectural models. There are many other benefits , making REST the ideal choice for the majority of API developers.

  • Methods for HTTP: REST is usually used with any of the GET, POST DELETE, PATCH, or PUT methods to perform data retrieval and making requests depending on the service implementation. The methods returned are the standard HTTP successes and failures. Some other options include OPTIONS, HEAD, and TRACE. These methods are inconsistent among the providers as certain providers might only implement a single method according to their needs.
  • A decoupled structure The REST architecture is client-server design, which means it's logic is distinct from presentation -- multiple parts can be simultaneously worked in a non-interfering manner.
  • Scalability REST APIs tend to be simple, which makes them easy to utilize. If you want to scale up your application, you are able to create new endpoints that incorporate more complicated algorithm.
  • Cacheability: While REST is stateless and unreliable, server responses on the client could be stored to prevent repeating requests. The server response usually gives information on how caching should be performed -- along with the client caching requests during a specific time.

What exactly is an API for Web? Web API?

Web APIs incorporate protocol specifications using concepts such as caching, the concept of versioning and diverse format of content. Web APIs can be described as a Web API may or may not be a REST API according to the method of development. Web APIs typically are used in a distributed system that provide services on different devices, such as smartphones and laptops, and only work on the web application's client side.

Here are two examples of widely-used Web APIs:

  • Twitter APIs:These comprise Twitter search API, which is Twitter search API that provides ways for you to interact with Twitter search. It also includes the REST API, which permits you to gain access to Twitter's core Twitter information.

Web API is a Web API operates as a system-to-system interaction. Here's how the data within such an API might move:

  1. Client devices send requests to the web server.
  2. The server that takes the request, process it and then forwards it to the client device to be executed.
  3. The output is displayed for the user.

The beneficial features of Web APIs include:

  • Lightweight architecture Web APIs are a great choice on devices that have low bandwidth, like smartphones.
  • Descriptive message headers: Web APIs have descriptive headers for messages, which may contain information on the content type, the security scheme or the best way to deal with caching.
  • resource-oriented service Web API lets you expose the resources using a method which is compatible with the REST Architecture.
  • Simple configuration and set-up Web APIs are straightforward to configure and use.

Web API vs. REST API

Now, let's compare the two APIs in greater depth.

Architecture Similarities

Web and REST APIs have some design and architecture similarities. Let's examine them.

  • Layered Architecture The two support a layered architecture layout where deployment of APIs as well as request authentication and storage could happen across multiple servers.
  • Resources-oriente d in resource-oriented architectures the resources are assigned into Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). The REST API and Web are both resource-oriented. Web and REST APIs have a resource orientation since they provide resources through URIs.
  • C acheability: In REST and Web APIs, requests that return the same information each time they're invoked are cached. As an example when you call an OPTION on an endpoint is stored in the cache because the result remains the same no matter the amount of times it's invoked. This characteristic, also known as idempotence, can be a good basis for determining what data should be cached. Idempotence is a constant consideration in REST, but not as often when it comes to web APIs. An idempotent API call is one in which the results won't be changed, regardless of the number of times it's made -- even with the possibility of changes in the server. Examples of idempotent methods include HEAD, GET and OPTIONS.

Architecture Differences

Although Web APIs as well as REST APIs are similar in architectural patterns, they also have some key differences.

  • Server-side and client-side coordination:REST APIs have loosely coupled architecture, allowing to develop independently on both the client and server side. By using Web APIs, the changes made between the server and client much more precisely coordinated.
  • InterfaceDepending on the specifics of its implementation REST APIs typically employ industry-standard interfaces. Web APIs utilize custom interfaces, depending on the API provider.

Communication

Web APIs can be adapted to leverage any communication style, while REST APIs are primarily used in conjunction with JSON, XML, and plaintext. The result is that REST APIs work well for textual data transmission, like read, create updates, delete, or create (CRUD) operations against a database, but are more restrictive when it comes with binary information.

Use Cases

Although these API formats are interchangeable in many cases however, there are some scenarios where one is better in comparison to the other

  • Cloud applications and services due to their stateless nature, REST APIs are employed in cloud-based services since stateless components can scale and redeploy to accommodate the changes. Cloud-based services and metrics tend to be best exposed as REST APIs because there's no need to write custom code.
  • Streaming services: Web APIs have better support and low overhead of application binary data on memory or bandwidth-constrained devices, so they're best for services that require streaming.
  • Database manipulation (CRUD): It's simpler and easier to expose CRUD functionality over a REST API than the Web API.

REST APIs are extremely difficult to control for large-scale requests that need to access sources that aren't organized in a straightforward hierarchy. It's because of URIs reference to resources. This means that managing this kind of situation is a matter of altering URI routes queries, query parameters, as well as the request body, which defeats the purpose of the REST. In this case, web APIs are preferred because it allows customization and has extensive support in URI responses and headers for requests.

With support for techniques like Asynchronous calls -- not easily implemented using the REST architecture Web APIs can be the ideal way to go when you have complex API needs.

Summary

Web and REST APIs can be utilized to create applications that provide the resources needed and also communicate via HTTP. As REST specifies architectural limitations over a uniform interface, web APIs are generally considered to be RESTful, depending on implementation.

Both Web and REST APIs are lightweight formats that can be used interchangeably across a variety of situations. However, compared to REST APIs, Web APIs give an enhanced user experience, as well as support for more message types as well as support for complex interactions between servers and clients dealing using binary information.