Backend API Standards

RESTful API design uses resource-based URLs with plural nouns (e.g., /users, /products) and appropriate HTTP methods: GET for retrieval, POST for creation, PUT/PATCH for updates, DELETE for removal. This ensures intuitive, predictable endpoints that clients can understand and integrate with easily.

Return 200 OK for successful GET requests, 201 Created for successful POST requests, 400 Bad Request for invalid input, 401 Unauthorized for authentication failures, and 404 Not Found for missing resources. Correct status codes communicate the outcome clearly to API consumers.

API versioning uses URL paths like /v1/users or /v2/users to manage breaking changes. Query parameters enable filtering (e.g., ?category=electronics), sorting, and pagination without changing the endpoint structure, keeping APIs stable while adding functionality.

Yes. Pagination uses query parameters (limit, offset) to return data in chunks, reducing payload size. Rate limiting restricts requests per time window to prevent abuse. Both are standard practices for scalable, production-grade APIs serving diverse clients.

Validating request data at API entry points prevents malformed, malicious, or incomplete data from reaching your application logic. Combined with consistent error responses, boundary validation reduces security risks and ensures only safe, expected data flows through your backend.

OpenAPI/Swagger provides machine-readable API documentation that describes endpoints, parameters, and response schemas. This enables automatic client generation, reduces integration errors, and ensures your API contract is discoverable and testable by other teams.