Preparation

W3Schools’s JSON Tutorial

Understanding and Using REST APIs

Learning Objectives

  • Create JSON representations of data (particularly arrays and objects)
  • Compare and contrast JSON and XML as data formats
  • Describe the benefits of REST as an architectural style
  • Use and implement a simple REST service

Practice

Experiment with an example REST API for a library database.

  1. Download the library database script and REST API
  2. Execute the library.mysql.sql script using MySQL Workbench to create the library database.
  3. Create a subdirectory named library in XAMPP’s htdocs directory. Place the remaining files in the library directory.
  4. Open http://localhost/library/client.html in your web browser. If you receive an HTTP 404 Not Found error, make sure that XAMPP (specifically Apache) is running on your computer.
  5. Submit a GET request to http://localhost/library/api/books. Examine the response status and content. Do you understand each?
  6. Submit a GET request for a particular book using resource URI provided in the response to the prior request. How is the book identified? Can you provide the structure of the resource URI?

  7. Submit a POST request to http://localhost/library/api/books to create the following entry:

    ISBN
    9781119231509
    Title
    Cybersecurity Law
    Author
    Jeff Kosseff
    Copyright
    2017
    Publisher
    John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    You must provide this information as JSON as part of of the request body. The format is the same as that returned by a GET request for a specific book. Does the new entry appear when you submit another request that lists all the books?

  8. Open api/books.php. Examine the source code to see how the REST API is implemented. Add support for the PATCH and PUT methods and test both.