API Design Principles

Key principles for good API design:

RESTful URL Structure

GET    /api/v1/users           # List users
GET    /api/v1/users/123       # Get specific user
POST   /api/v1/users           # Create user
PUT    /api/v1/users/123       # Update user
DELETE /api/v1/users/123       # Delete user

# Nested resources
GET    /api/v1/users/123/posts # Get user's posts
POST   /api/v1/users/123/posts # Create post for user

Consistent Response Format

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": 123,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com"
  },
  "meta": {
    "timestamp": "2024-02-05T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

Error Handling

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Validation failed",
  "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
  "details": [
    {
      "field": "email",
      "message": "Email is required"
    }
  ]
}

HTTP Status Codes

• 200: Success
• 201: Created
• 400: Bad Request
• 401: Unauthorized
• 403: Forbidden
• 404: Not Found
• 422: Unprocessable Entity
• 500: Internal Server Error

Versioning Strategy

• Use URL versioning: /api/v1/
• Maintain backward compatibility
• Deprecate old versions gracefully
• Document breaking changes