Comprehensive Explainer: What Is Rest API and How to Test Rest API?

In this blog post, we will break down the much-asked question of "how to test rest API" and how to make a strategy for doing so. Read till the end to know our recommendations and another related dose of knowledge.

What Is REST API?

RESTful APIs are those that follow specific rules in their implementation and allow communication between different components on different devices over HTTP; because they use HTTP protocol, they can be accessed from any platform or device without having to install any additional software. For example: In order to get data from an external server, you need at least 2 servers (one for requesting data and another one for sending back results), but if you want all this functionality in just one place then your best bet would probably be Google Sheets which allows users like yourself to create custom functions even if they're not particularly advanced coders themselves.

What to Test in REST API?

To test REST API, you need to first come up with a list of tests that you want to run on the API. When testing an API, there are a few things you should consider:

• Authentication: This is one of the most important steps when testing REST APIs. It’s important because it decides whether we can access certain resources or not.
• Data validation: Before starting your integration process, it’s important to make sure that all data is validated properly and formatted in accordance with industry standards (if applicable).
• Response codes: Every response code has its meaning and purpose; therefore, it’s essential for every developer to know them well enough so they can easily debug issues as soon as possible without wasting time trying to figure out what went wrong during an integration process.
• Error handling: Errors occur for various reasons; however, their main goal is always the same – alerting developers about something gone wrong during an integration process by preventing further actions from being taken until such time that an issue has been resolved. You might also want some extra protection against potential threats coming from outside sources like hackers or viruses which could attack your system within minutes after deployment thus causing major damage if unanticipated consequences happen unexpectedly later down the road since no one knows how long these could take place before someone notices them happening again later down this path towards success.

How to Test REST API?

There are a lot of tools for REST API testing in the market. Some of these tools include Postman, Paw, Rest-Assured, SoapUI, and Insomnia REST Client. Postman is one of the most popular development tools available in the market today. It allows users to create interactive API requests with a simple GUI interface and make them run instantly against any backend system on the fly. You just need to enter some details about your API such as URL, method type (GET/POST, etc.), headers or payload values, etc., hit the ‘Send’ button, and get a response immediately from the server-side platforms like AWS Lambda or Google Cloud Function, etc.

1. Postman

Postman is a tool for testing and developing APIs. It provides features for sending requests, analyzing responses, creating and managing collections, and more. Postman is available as a desktop app, browser extension, and mobile app.

1. Paw

You can use Paw to test RESTful APIs on Mac. It is an open-source tool that can be used to test APIs from different providers. The user interface is easy to use and has a good performance as well.

1. Rest-Assured

Rest-Assured is a Java library that allows you to write tests with assertions similar to JUnit. It is used to test RESTful web services and can be used with any HTTP client. The Rest-Assured API has been designed to be intuitive and easy to learn, which makes it very simple for developers who are new to test automation or those who have never written a single line of code before. The documentation also contains all the information needed in order not only to get started but also to become productive immediately by learning how each feature works through examples that show real-world scenarios rather than being limited just by theory alone.

The best thing about Rest Assured is its flexibility; this means that it’s suitable for any kind of project whether you're building an API from scratch or testing an existing one – most especially if said API uses HTTP as its protocol (which makes sense since "Rest" stands for Representational State Transfer).

1. SoapUI

SoapUI is a tool for testing web services. It allows you to create, run and maintain functional tests for your APIs. It is an open-source tool, available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The SoapUI platform lets you record your actions as they are performed by a human tester. These actions are then converted into automated steps that can be used to drive automated testing of web services. Once the tests have been created, they can be executed against the target application under test (AUT) with just one click of the mouse button.

1. Insomnia REST Client

The Insomnia REST Client is a tool that allows you to interact with REST APIs. The project was originally started in 2014 and has since been updated several times. The client itself supports many different programming languages (such as Java, Python, and Ruby) and comes with some built-in libraries that make it easy to interact with an API endpoint. In addition to this, there's also support for additional packages that can be added via npm or by downloading them directly from GitHub.

Conclusion

This concludes our guide for “how to test rest API”. If you are looking for an easy way to test REST APIs, then Postman is probably your best bet. It has everything you need and it is extremely user-friendly.