APIs
REST
A widely-used convention for designing APIs around resources and standard HTTP methods.
Reviewed by the RadarTrek editorial team · June 2026
REST (Representational State Transfer) is a set of conventions for structuring an API: each URL represents a "resource" (like /users or /orders/42), and standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) describe what action to take on it. Most APIs you'll encounter follow these conventions, even if loosely.
Why it matters
- —REST conventions make APIs predictable — once you know the pattern, you can guess how an unfamiliar API works.
- —Resources and verbs (GET /orders vs DELETE /orders/42) map cleanly onto everyday CRUD operations.
- —Even APIs that aren't strictly RESTful usually borrow its vocabulary and structure.
Where to learn this
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REST, Resources, and Endpoints
API Design for Builders course
This is the exact lesson that covers this term in depth — with examples, diagrams, and a hands-on exercise.