APIs and REST Flashcards

What is the main advantage of using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) over server-side sessions?

Answer: JWTs are stateless and can be verified without a database lookup

JWTs are self-contained tokens that encode claims, allowing servers to verify them without querying a session store, enabling stateless scalability.

Which REST API design pattern uses a URL like '/users/{id}/orders' to represent relationships?

Answer: Nested resource pattern

Nested resources express parent-child relationships in the URL hierarchy, making it clear that orders belong to a specific user.

What is the purpose of the 'X-Request-ID' header in API requests?

Answer: To provide a unique identifier for tracing a request through distributed systems

X-Request-ID (or Correlation-ID) is a unique identifier added to requests to enable end-to-end tracing across multiple services in a distributed system.

What is 'API throttling' designed to prevent?

Answer: A single client from monopolizing server resources with excessive requests

API throttling limits the request rate per client to ensure fair resource distribution and protect the server from overload.

In REST API design, what is the recommended way to handle soft deletes?

Answer: Use PATCH to set a 'deleted_at' timestamp or 'status' field

Soft deletes are typically handled with PATCH to mark a resource as deleted (e.g., setting deleted_at or is_deleted) without removing it from the database.

What does 'API backward compatibility' mean in practice?

Answer: Adding new features without breaking existing client integrations

Backward compatibility means existing clients continue to work correctly after API updates, typically by only adding (not removing or renaming) fields and endpoints.

Which of the following is a characteristic of a RESTful API's uniform interface?

Answer: Resources are identified by URIs and manipulated through standard HTTP methods

REST's uniform interface constraint requires that resources be identified via URIs and that standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) define operations on them.