The REST API

In the previous sections, we have mentioned a REST API in passing, but we will now explore the topic. For those not familiar, REST API is an acronym for Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface. This is a model in which a request of a URL constitutes a state transition, and the response from the server after processing this request is a representation of the resource that exists at the other end of the URL. The REST model is closely related to HTTP capabilities and mirrors its functions, such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. Using this, we are able to interact with our service or resource without a hard requirement on a specific programming language binding, because as long as there's an HTTP capability, we are able to utilize the API. Almost all programming languages have this built-in functionality and it even allows us to utilize resources via command-line utilities that provide HTTP functionalities, such as curl.

We will use the curl utility in order...