Hands-On RESTful Python Web Services - Second Edition

Understanding the differences between the PUT and the PATCH methods

The HTTP PUT and PATCH methods have different purposes. The HTTP PUT method is meant to replace an entire resource. The HTTP PATCH method is meant to apply a delta to an existing resource.

Our API is able to update a single field for an existing resource, and therefore, we provide an implementation for the PATCH method. For example, we can use the PATCH method to update an existing notification and set the value for its displayed_once and displayed_times fields to true and 1.

We don't want to use the PUT method to update two fields because this method is meant to replace an entire notification. The PATCH method is meant to apply a delta to an existing notification, and therefore, ...