REST API's Design

Designing REST APIs with Spring Boot involves not only adhering to REST principles but also ensuring the APIs are maintainable, scalable, and user-friedly.

Here the key points for REST API design best practices in Spring Boot:

1. Resource Naming and URL Structure

   • URL patterns and conventions

   • Resource identification

   • Nested resources handling

   • Query parameter usage

2. HTTP Methods and Status Codes

   • Proper HTTP method selection

   • Appropriate status code usage

   • Idempotency considerations

   • Bulk operations handling

3. Request/Response Design

   • Request payload structure

   • Response envelope patterns

   • Error response standardization

   • Data pagination approaches

4. Versioning Strategies

   • URI versioning

   • Header versioning

   • Content negotiation

   • Version migration strategies

5. Security Patterns

   • Authentication mechanisms

   • Authorization levels

   • API key management

   • Rate limiting implementation

6. Documentation and Contracts

   • OpenAPI/Swagger implementation

   • API documentation standards

   • Contract-first approach

   • Example payloads

7. Data Transfer Objects (DTOs)

   • DTO design patterns

   • Mapping strategies

   • Validation approaches

   • Custom serialization

8. Filtering and Searching

   • Query parameter standards

   • Search criteria implementation

   • Filter combinations

   • Sort parameters

9. Caching Strategy

   • Cache headers

   • ETag implementation

   • Cache invalidation

   • Conditional requests

10. HATEOAS and Links

    • Link relations

    • Resource discovery

    • Navigation patterns

    • State transitions

11. Batch Operations

    • Bulk create/update/delete

    • Transaction handling

    • Progress tracking

    • Partial success handling

12. API Evolution

    • Backward compatibility

    • Deprecation strategy

    • Breaking changes handling

    • Feature toggles