Rest API Interview

 

15 Rest API Interview Question & Answers (2022 Update)

1) Explain what is REST and RESTFUL?

REST represents Representational State Transfer; it is a relatively new aspect of writing web API.

RESTFUL is referred to web services written by applying the REST architectural concept are called RESTful services, it focuses on system resources and how the state of resources should be transported over HTTP protocol to different clients written in a different language. In RESTFUL web service HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE can be used to perform CRUD operations.

2) Explain the architectural style for creating web API?

The architectural style for creating web API is

• HTTP for client-server communication
• XML/JSON as a formatting language
• Simple URI as the address for the services
• Stateless communication

3) Mention what tools are required to test your web API?

SOAPUI tool for SOAP WS and Firefox “poster” plugin for RESTFUL services.

4) Mention what are the HTTP methods supported by REST?

HTTP methods supported by REST are:

• GET: It requests a resource at the request URL. It should not contain a request body as it will be discarded. Maybe it can be cached locally or on the server.
• POST: It submits information to the service for processing; it should typically return the modified or new resource
• PUT: At the request URL it updates the resource
• DELETE: At the request URL it removes the resource
• OPTIONS: It indicates which techniques are supported
• HEAD: About the request URL it returns meta information

5) Mention whether you can use GET request instead of PUT to create a resource?

No, you are not supposed to use PUT for getting. GET operations should only have view rights, while PUT resource is used for updating data.

6) Mention what are resources in a REST architecture?

Resources are identified by logical URLs; it is the key element of a RESTful design. Unlike, SOAP web services in REST, you view the product data as a resource and this resource should contain all the required information.

7) Mention what is the difference between AJAX and REST?

AJAX	REST
In Ajax, the request are sent to the server by using XMLHttpRequest objects. The response is used by the JavaScript code to dynamically alter the current page.	REST have a URL structure and a request/response pattern the revolve around the use of resources.
Ajax is a set of technology; it is a technique of dynamically updating parts of UI without having to reload the page.	REST is a type of software architecture and a method for users to request data or information from servers.
Ajax eliminates the interaction between the customer and server asynchronously.	REST requires the interaction between the customer and server.

7) Mention some key characteristics of REST?

Some key characteristics of REST includes

• REST is stateless, therefore the SERVER has no state (or session data)
• With a well-applied REST API, the server could be restarted between two calls as every data is passed to the server
• Web service mostly uses POST method to make operations, whereas REST uses GET to access resources

8) Mention what are the different application integration styles?

The different integration styles include

• Shared database
• Batch file transfer
• Invoking remote procedure (RPC)
• Swapping asynchronous messages over a message-oriented middleware (MOM)

9) Explain how JAXB is related to RESTful web API?

JAXB stands for java arch for XML binding.

10) Mention what is the difference between PUT and POST?

“PUT” puts a file or resource at a particular URI and exactly at that URI. If there is already a file or resource at that URI, PUT changes that file or resource. If there is no resource or file there, PUT makes one

POST sends data to a particular URI and expects the resource at that URI to deal with the request. The web server at this point can decide what to do with the data in the context of the specified resource

PUT is idempotent meaning, invoking it any number of times will not have an impact on resources.

However, POST is not idempotent, meaning if you invoke POST multiple times it keeps creating more resources

11) Mention which markup language can be used in restful web API?

JSON and XML are the two markup languages that can be used in restful web API

12) Mention what is the difference between RPC or document-style web services? How do you determine which one to choose?

In document-style web services, we can transport an XML message as part of a SOAP request which is not possible in RPC-style web services. Document style web service is most appropriate in some applications where XML message behaves as a document and the content of that document can alter and intention of web service does not rely on the content of XML message.

13) Mention what is JAX-WS and JAX-RS?

Both JAX-WS and JAX-RS are libraries (APIs) for communication in various ways in Java. JAX-WS is a library that can be used to do SOAP communication in JAVA, and JAX-RS lets you do the REST communication in JAVA.

14) List out the tools or API for developing or testing web API?

Testing tools for web services for REST APIs include

• Spring REST web service using MVC
• Jersey API
• CXF
• Axis
• Restlet,

15) Mention what is the difference between SOAP and REST?

SOAP	REST
SOAP is a protocol through which two computer communicates by sharing XML document.	Rest is a service architecture and design for network-based software architectures.
SOAP permits only XML	REST supports many different data formats
SOAP based reads cannot be cached	REST reads can be cached
SOAP is like custom desktop application, closely connected to the server	A REST client is more like a browser; it knows how to standardized methods and an application has to fit inside it
SOAP is slower than REST	REST is faster than SOAP
It runs on HTTP but envelopes the message	It uses the HTTP headers to hold meta information