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REST API Design: 10 Principles for Clean APIs

2026-03-16 · cod-ai.com Team

A well-designed API is intuitive. A poorly designed API generates support tickets.

Naming

Use nouns, not verbs: /users not /getUsers. Plural: /users/123 not /user/123. Nested resources: /users/123/orders.

HTTP Methods

GET = read. POST = create. PUT = full update. PATCH = partial update. DELETE = remove. Don't use POST for everything.

Error Responses

Always return: HTTP status code + error message + error code. {{'error': 'User not found', 'code': 'USER_NOT_FOUND', 'status': 404}}

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