This book22.9 x 15.2 x 0.6 cm9.02 x 5.98 x 0.24 in
Ship to
Netherlands
Select your location
Shipping costs will be calculated based on this address throughout the site.
Shipping costs will be calculated based on this address throughout the site.
Select your country
Americas
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Mexico
Peru
U.S.A.
Uruguay
Europe
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Rest of the world
REST API Design. A Practical Reference
Re-Wise Publishers
REST API Design. A Practical Reference
Re-Wise Publishers (Author) · Independently published · Paperback
REST API Design. A Practical Reference
Re-Wise Publishers
If you have already built a REST API but still find yourself second-guessing naming conventions, arguing about status codes, or discovering mid-project that your versioning strategy is a dead end, this book is for you. You do not need an introduction to what an API is. You need a clear, opinionated reference for the design decisions that come up again and again, with the reasoning behind each one so you can apply it confidently in any context.
This is not a tutorial. It is the book you hand to a backend developer who is building or maintaining a production API and needs to stop reinventing the same wheels.
What you will find inside:
A precise, no-filler guide to URL structure, resource naming, and HTTP methods, including the rules most developers only discover after they have already broken themThe right way to handle errors consistently across every endpoint, including when to use RFC 7807 Problem Details and what never to expose in an error responseVersioning strategies with honest trade-offs and a clear recommendation, plus exactly what constitutes a breaking changeAuthentication patterns covering API keys, Bearer tokens, OAuth 2.0 flows, scopes, and the critical difference between 401 and 403Pagination, filtering, and sorting done right, including cursor-based pagination and when offset pagination will quietly break on youIdempotency keys explained from first principles, with a complete implementation pattern for any POST that creates a resource or triggers a side effectWebhooks from payload design to HMAC-SHA256 signature verification, with signing code in Python and Node.jsRate limiting, caching, CORS, ETags, and the response headers that infrastructure and monitoring systems depend onA full chapter on the thirteen most damaging API design mistakes, each with a description of the problem and the correct fixA Quick Reference covering the HTTP method decision guide, status codes by use case, standard headers, a reusable error response template, and an idempotency implementation checklistEvery recommendation in this book comes with a reason. When there is a genuine trade-off, both sides are presented honestly before a recommendation is made. When one approach is clearly better, it is stated directly. The goal is not to give you a style guide to memorise but to give you the judgment to make good design decisions independently, on any API, in any team.
If you want your API to be the kind that developers praise in code reviews rather than quietly work around, this is where to start.
Do you have a question about the book? Login to be able to add your own question.