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REST API Design

A focused REST API design learning path covering HTTP methods, resource modeling, status codes, pagination, versioning, security, documentation, and testing for robust APIs.

technicalintermediate12 nodes70h total
  1. 1

    HTTP Protocol Fundamentals

    Master HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and semantics

    Completion criteria: Design API endpoints with correct HTTP methods and status codes

    Next step: Learn REST principles

    ⏱ 6h

  2. 2

    REST Architecture Principles

    Understand REST constraints, resource identification, and statelessness

    Prerequisites: ra-01

    Completion criteria: Design a RESTful API following architectural constraints

    Next step: Study resource modeling

    ⏱ 6h

  3. 3

    Resource Modeling and URL Design

    Design resource hierarchies, URL patterns, and naming conventions

    Prerequisites: ra-02

    Completion criteria: Design a complete resource model with proper URLs

    Next step: Learn request/response design

    ⏱ 8h

  4. 4

    Request and Response Design

    Design request bodies, response formats, and error handling

    Prerequisites: ra-03

    Completion criteria: Define consistent request/response schemas with errors

    Next step: Study pagination and filtering

    ⏱ 8h

  5. 5

    Pagination, Filtering, and Sorting

    Implement pagination, filtering, and sorting strategies

    Prerequisites: ra-04

    Completion criteria: Design pagination and filtering for a collection endpoint

    Next step: Learn versioning

    ⏱ 6h

  6. 6

    API Versioning Strategies

    Choose and implement API versioning approaches

    Prerequisites: ra-05

    Completion criteria: Implement a versioning strategy for an API

    Next step: Study authentication

    ⏱ 6h

  7. 7

    Authentication and Authorization

    Implement OAuth2, JWT, and API key authentication

    Prerequisites: ra-06

    Completion criteria: Design a complete auth scheme for a REST API

    Next step: Learn rate limiting

    ⏱ 8h

  8. 8

    Rate Limiting and Throttling

    Implement rate limiting, throttling, and quota management

    Prerequisites: ra-07

    Completion criteria: Add rate limiting to an API with proper headers

    Next step: Study documentation

    ⏱ 6h

  9. 9

    API Documentation with OpenAPI

    Create OpenAPI specifications and interactive documentation

    Prerequisites: ra-08

    Completion criteria: Generate complete API docs from OpenAPI spec

    Next step: Learn testing

    ⏱ 8h

  10. 10

    API Testing and Contract Testing

    Write API tests and contract tests for reliability

    Prerequisites: ra-09

    Completion criteria: Create comprehensive API test suite with contract validation

    Next step: Study caching

    ⏱ 6h

  11. 11

    Caching and Performance

    Implement HTTP caching, ETags, and performance optimization

    Prerequisites: ra-10

    Completion criteria: Add caching headers and ETags to an API

    Next step: Build a capstone REST API project

    ⏱ 6h

  12. 12

    Capstone REST API Project

    Design and build a complete production-ready REST API

    Prerequisites: ra-11

    Completion criteria: Deliver a fully designed, documented, and tested REST API

    Next step: Explore GraphQL and gRPC as complementary API styles

    ⏱ 6h