Dive into REST API Tutorial, a comprehensive guide on REST uncovering the fundamental principles that power efficient and scalable web services, and discover how adopting these principles can revolutionize your approach to building applications.

REST, or Representational State Transfer, is an architectural style for distributed hypermedia systems introduced by Roy Fielding in 2000. Resources are the key abstractions in REST, representing any named information. They have a state, consisting of data, metadata, and hypermedia links. Resource identifiers are used to distinguish them, while hypermedia provides a way to navigate between resources.

Resource methods enable transitions between states. HTTP methods like GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE are commonly used but not strictly mandated. REST and HTTP are distinct, with REST adhering to principles regardless of the underlying protocol.

REST employs URIs to access resources, using well-defined operations. Resources are decoupled from their representation, allowing access in various formats. Interactions are stateless, promoting simplicity, speed, and lightweight applications. Metadata aids in caching, error detection, and authentication. HTTP is a common protocol, but not a strict requirement for RESTful interfaces.