Learn
the Basics of
Web API:
HTTP
Aram Tchekrekjian @AramT87
Web API Topics
1
•HTTP
•REST & RESTful Services
•HTTP Request Methods
•Content-Type
•HTTP Headers
•HTTP Statuses
•HTTP Cookies
•HTTPS
•HTTP/2
•HTTP/3
@AramT87
2 HTTP
Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol, is
the communication protocol on
the web that is used to transmit
data
Foundation of the Web
Simple: Human readable format
Extensible using the Headers to
send/receive extra information
Stateless, doesn’t maintain state
unless HTTP Cookies are
introduced to hold the
communication session or state
@AramT87
REST & RESTful Services
3
Representational State Transfer or
REST is an architectural style to
build Programming Interfaces
(APIs) for data manipulation
through HTTP
RESTful Services are the web
services built using the REST style
Hosted under domain endpoints
Allows clients to communicate and
access resources
Uses HTTP as the communication
protocol
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Request Methods
4
GET: Used to retrieve data, any
parameter should be passed via
the query string
POST: Used to submit data within
the request body, this is usually
used to pass personal or
confidential data
UPDATE: Used to edit record in
resource server without creating
new record
DELETE: Used to delete a record in
server
Other Methods include: PATCH,
OPTIONS, TRACE, HEAD, TUNNEL
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Content Types
5
plain: Data will be sent ‘as-is’ in
plain text without any serialization,
encryption or encoding.
json: Data will be serialized in JSON
format when sent from POST or PUT
request body
form-url-encoded: This is
represented as a key-value pair
(dictionary) of request parameters
that are sent as part of the request
body. Use when sending small
amounts of data
form-data: Used when uploading
form fields that include file upload,
it uploads the data in multiple parts.
Use it when sending (binary) or large
payloads
@AramT87
HTTP Headers
6
A collection of key,value pairs (or
dictionary) of meta-data that can be
passed with each request or response
Headers are categorized by context:
Request Headers: such as Accept-
Language, Authorization
Response Headers: such as
Connection, Server
Representation Headers: such as
content-type, content-language
Payload Headers: such as content-
length, transfer-encoding
@AramT87
HTTP Statuses
7 Http status represents the status of
the RESTful service after HTTP
Request is completed
Status codes are represented as 3
digits, where the first digit represents
the category:
1xx: Request received and under
processing
2xx: Successful
3xx: Redirection (action to be taken
by browser or user)
4xx: Invalid request by client, data
incomplete or invalid
5xx: Server-side error ( API crash,
misconfigurations, app pool
shutdown)
@AramT87
HTTP Cookies
8 Used to maintain the state or
session between multiple HTTP
communications
A Cookie is a small piece of data
passed from server to user’s
browser via the set-cookie
response header
Cookies can also be restricted via
the use of Secure attribute and
HttpOnly Attribute, this is used
to prevent Cross-site scripting
attack (XSS)
Cookies are used mainly for
Session Management,
Personalization and Tracking
@AramT87
HTTPS
9
S stands for Secure, which means
the HTTP communication
between the client (like browser)
and the website will happen via a
secure channel, using an SSL/TLS
encryption protocol
TLS is the successor of SSL
TLS v1.2 is the minimum
recommended version of TLS that
websites should use to maintain
a secure website.
TLS v1.3 is the latest version.
Your site, including your web API
must always use HTTPS
@AramT87
HTTP/2
10
HTTP/2 is a major revision of
the HTTP, introduced in 2015
Its purpose is to improve the
web performance by
decreasing latency
Over 97% of browsers now
support HTTP/2
Key Features Include:
Multiplexing, Weighted
Prioritization, Server Push,
Headers Compression
See the Next Slide for details
@AramT87
HTTP/2 - Key Features
11
Multiplexing: Request and Response
messages can be transmitted between
client and server via bidirectional and
concurrent streams (Over the same TCP
Connection)
Weighted prioritization: streams can be
assigned weighted value and
dependency for the client to display
the responses from the streams
accordingly
Sever Push: When client requests a
resource, the server can push extra
resources to be cached on the client
and used when needed
Headers Compression: using HPACK
specification to compress HTTP
headers to optimize streams
multiplexing
@AramT87
HTTP/3
12
Though not officially announced,
HTTP/3 is the 3rd major revision of the
HTTP
Introduces data transmission on a new
transport protocol - Quic or
(pronounced as Quick)
Quick UDP Internet Connections or
Quic relies on UDP protocol rather than
TCP
Quic on UDP provides a faster and
more efficient communication than TCP
which leads to improved web
performance and user experience
Over 75% of browsers now support
HTTP/3, more and more sites have
started adopting it
@AramT87
HTTP/3 - Key Features
13
Faster connection setup and reduced
Round-Trip Time by combining the
cryptographic and transport
handshakes
With the use of Connection IDs, a
communication can be maintained
between client and server even when
device’s network switches to another
Solves the TCP head-of-line blocking
issue: If a packet is lost, the stream-
aware Quic communication will know
which stream is exactly loss and it will
retransmit it
Enhanced security with transport-level
default encryption: which means
connections will always be encrypted,
which will include data and meta-data
about the connection
@AramT87
Thank You
Follow me for more content
Aram Tchekrekjian
@AramT87
CodingSonata.com
