1. Understanding Representational State Transfer (REST)
A REST API (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for web services that enables decoupled systems to communicate over HTTP using standard methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and JSON payloads.
Key Takeaway: REST APIs standardise server communication using universal HTTP verbs and predictable JSON responses.
2. Key Principles of RESTful Design
Statelessness: Each request from client to server must contain all necessary authentication and context data (via JWT Bearer tokens in headers).
Uniform Interface: Resources are identified by clear URI paths (e.g. `/api/v1/companies/123`), and responses adhere to standardized status codes (200 OK, 201 Created, 400 Bad Request, 404 Not Found).