🌐REST API Best Practices

When I first built APIs, I only cared if they worked — returning a JSON was victory enough.

But as I built bigger apps, I realized a good API isn't just functional — it's consistent, predictable, and developer-friendly.

So, here's my take on REST API best practices — lessons learned while working with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB 🚀

🧭 1. Use Meaningful, Consistent Endpoints

Your URLs should be nouns, not verbs, representing resources — not actions.

REST is all about resources — so use plural nouns and HTTP methods to define actions.

🧱 2. Use Proper HTTP Methods

GET /api/users → fetch all users
POST /api/users → create new user
PUT /api/users/1 → update user
DELETE /api/users/1 → delete user

⚙️ 3. Version Your API

APIs evolve. Always version them from the start — it saves breaking changes later.

Versioning gives freedom to experiment without breaking existing clients.

🧩 4. Use Status Codes Properly

Return the right HTTP status codes — they help users of your API understand what happened.

🔒 5. Secure Your APIs

Security is not optional. Always:

• •Validate user input
• •Sanitize data (prevent XSS & injection)
• •Use JWT or OAuth for authentication
• •Rate limit requests to prevent abuse

🧠 6. Handle Errors Gracefully

A consistent error response format makes debugging easier for developers.

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Invalid email format",
  "code": 400
}

⚡ 7. Pagination and Filtering

Never return huge data sets at once. Always implement:

🧰 8. Use JSON as the Standard Format

Keep it consistent. JSON is the universal standard for REST APIs — human-readable and easily parsed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Namit",
  "email": "namit@example.com"
}

🚦 9. Log Everything

Logs are your best debugging ally in production. Use libraries like Winston or Morgan to track requests and catch errors.

A well-logged API tells you why something went wrong before users do.

🚀 10. Documentation Is King

Even the best API is useless without docs. Tools like Swagger, Postman, or Redoc help document endpoints and make them easy to test.

"A well-documented API saves more time than a perfectly written one."