About RESTful APIs
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REST is a style of software architecture that provides a convenient and consistent approach to requesting and modifying data.
The term REST is short for " Representational State Transfer
." In the context of Google APIs, it refers to using HTTP verbs to retrieve and modify representations of data stored by Google.
In a RESTful system, resources are stored in a data store; a client sends a request that the server perform a particular action (such as creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting a resource), and the server performs the action and sends a response, often in the form of a representation of the specified resource.
In Google's RESTful APIs, the client specifies an action using an HTTP verb such as POST
, GET
, PUT
, or DELETE
. It specifies a resource by a globally-unique URI of the following form:
https://www.googleapis.com/ apiName
/ apiVersion
/ resourcePath
? parameters
Because all API resources have unique HTTP-accessible URIs, REST enables data caching and is optimized to work with the web's distributed infrastructure.
You may find the method definitions
in the HTTP 1.1 standards documentation useful; they include specifications for GET
, POST
, PUT
, and DELETE
.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License
. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies
. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eREST, or Representational State Transfer, is an architectural style for exchanging data using standard HTTP methods.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle APIs utilize REST to allow clients to interact with Google's data by sending requests using verbs like \u003ccode\u003eGET\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003ePOST\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003ePUT\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003eDELETE\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eEach Google API resource is uniquely identified by a URI allowing efficient caching and interaction within the web's infrastructure.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["REST is a software architecture style employing HTTP verbs to interact with data. Clients send requests to servers to perform actions like creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting resources. Resources are identified by unique URIs, structured as `https://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters`. The server executes the requested action and responds. Common HTTP verbs used include `POST`, `GET`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`, defining the specific action. This structure supports data caching and is optimized for web infrastructure.\n"],null,["# About RESTful APIs\n\nREST is a style of software architecture that provides a convenient and consistent approach to requesting and modifying data.\n\nThe term REST is short for \"[Representational State Transfer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer).\" In the context of Google APIs, it refers to using HTTP verbs to retrieve and modify representations of data stored by Google.\n\nIn a RESTful system, resources are stored in a data store; a client sends a request that the server perform a particular action (such as creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting a resource), and the server performs the action and sends a response, often in the form of a representation of the specified resource.\n\nIn Google's RESTful APIs, the client specifies an action using an HTTP verb such as `POST`, `GET`, `PUT`, or `DELETE`. It specifies a resource by a globally-unique URI of the following form: \n\n```\nhttps://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters\n```\n\nBecause all API resources have unique HTTP-accessible URIs, REST enables data caching and is optimized to work with the web's distributed infrastructure.\n\nYou may find the [method definitions](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-4.3) in the HTTP 1.1 standards documentation useful; they include specifications for `GET`, `POST`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`."]]
