HTTP Methods in API

HTTP methods are used to request information while working with APIs. For instance, think about interacting with a Spotify App , you would “SEARCH” your favorite album, “SELECT” a particular song in that album & then hit the “PLAY” button to listen to your favorite song. Here , you are using various methods to get your things done, HTTP methods works in a similar way.

HTTP methods can Create , Read , Update & Delete the information.
There are 4 most commonly used HTTP methods:

1. POST

• It is used to Create new resources.
• For instance, if we want to upload a new video using the YouTube API , we will use the POST method since it’s used to create new resources ( videos ).

2. GET

• It is used to read/ retrieve a representation of a resource .
• The response to this method helps to fetch the requested information.
• It is used only to retrieve the data and not used to modify or update the same. It is considered safe.
• For example , at Netflix , GET method can be used to retrieve the list of horror movies.

3. PUT

• It is used to update /replace the data.
• For example, Using the PUT method in Amazon API to update the the delivery address.

3. DELETE

• It is used to delete/remove data.
• For example, Using the DELETE method in the Gmail API to delete the email.

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