| Method | CRUD | Description |
|---|---|---|
POST |
Create | The POST verb is most-often utilized to create new resources. In particular, it's used to create subordinate resources. That is, subordinate to some other (e.g. parent) resource. In other words, when creating a new resource, POST to the parent and the service takes care of associating the new resource with the parent, assigning an ID (new resource URI), etc. |
GET |
Read | The HTTP GET method is used to read (or retrieve) a representation of a resource. In the “happy” (or non-error) path, GET returns a representation in XML or JSON and an HTTP response code of 200 (OK). In an error case, it most often returns a 404 (NOT FOUND) or 400 (BAD REQUEST). |
PUT |
Update / Replace | PUT is most-often utilized for update capabilities, PUT-ing to a known resource URI with the request body containing the newly-updated representation of the original resource. However, PUT can also be used to create a resource in the case where the resource ID is chosen by the client instead of by the server. In other words, if the PUT is to a URI that contains the value of a non-existent resource ID. Again, the request body contains a resource representation. Many feel this is convoluted and confusing. Consequently, this method of creation should be used sparingly, if at all. |
PATCH |
Update / Modify | ATCH is used for modify capabilities. The PATCH request only needs to contain the changes to the resource, not the complete resource. This resembles PUT, but the body contains a set of instructions describing how a resource currently residing on the server should be modified to produce a new version. This means that the PATCH body should not just be a modified part of the resource, but in some kind of patch language like JSON Patch or XML Patch. |
DELETE |
Delete | DELETE is pretty easy to understand. It is used to delete a resource identified by a URI. |