The REST-based architecture uses standard HTTP methods: PUT, GET, POST, and DELETE. The following list gives an explanation of these operations:
- GET gives a read access to the resource. Calling GET should not create any side-effects. It means that the GET operation is idempotent. The resource is never changed via a GET request; for example, the request has no side effects. It means it's idempotent
- PUT creates a new resource. Similar to GET, it should also be idempotent
- DELETE removes the resource or resources. The DELETE operation should not give different results when called repeatedly
- POST will update an existing resource or create a new one
A RESTful web service is simply a web service that is based on the REST resource ...
