Client-Server Web Apps with JavaScript and Java

Appendix B. RESTful Web API Summary

HTTP 1.1 Request Methods

Table B-1 summarizes the HTTP 1.1 request methods.

Table B-1. HTTP 1.1. request methods

HTTP verb	Action to take on a resource	REST action
GET	Retrieve	Like SQL SELECT
HEAD	Retrieve without response body	LIKE SQL SELECT 1
POST	Create (or append)	Like SQL INSERT
PUT	Update (or create) of full resource	Like SQL UPDATE (or INSERT if doesn’t exist)
PATCH	Partial update	Like SQL UPDATE (part of a resource)
DELETE	Delete	Like SQL DELETE
TRACE	Echo request	Diagnostic to determine changes made by intermediate servers
OPTIONS	Return supported methods	Determine which HTTP methods are allowed for the resource
CONNECT	Support for HTTP tunneling	Support HTTP tunneling

HTTP 1.1 Response Codes

Tables B-2 through B-6 summarize the HTTP 1.1 status codes.

Table B-2. Informational status codes 1xx

Code	Meaning	Description
100	Continue	Interim response indicating that part of the request has been received (and not yet rejected by the server)
101	Switching Protocols	Server switching to protocols defined by the response Upgrade header

Table B-3. Successful status codes 2xx

Code	Meaning	Description
200	OK	Accepted
201	Created	A new resource is being created
202	Accepted	Accepted, but processing not complete
203	Non-Authoritative Information	Subset or superset of metadata returned in the entity header
204	No Content	No response body included
205	Reset Content	Client should initiate a request to view the resource associated with the initial request
206	Partial Content	Response to a request that included ...