Spring Data REST and API Design

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Questions and Answers

What does the acronym REST stand for in the context of web services?

Representational State Transition
Resource Evaluation State Transfer
Resourceful Systems Engagement Transfer
Representational State Transfer (correct)

Which of the following statements is true regarding REST APIs?

REST APIs are widely considered to be synonymous with RESTful services. (correct)
REST APIs operate solely on WebSockets for communication.
REST APIs can only be used with XML data formats.
REST APIs generally require complex authentication methods.

What are the functions of a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) App?

Creating financial reports for businesses.
Developing new software applications.
Managing customer interactions and data. (correct)
Providing web hosting services.

Which of the following describes JSON?

A lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of RESTful services?

They can utilize standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary purpose of Spring Data REST in relation to JpaRepository?

It exposes REST APIs automatically for each entity type in the JpaRepository. (A) Signup and view all the answers

How are REST endpoints named by default in Spring Data REST?

They use a simple pluralized form with the first character in lowercase and an 's' added. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the first step in enabling Spring Data REST in a project?

Adding Spring Data REST to the Maven POM file. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which three components are essential for Spring Data REST to function correctly?

JpaRepository, Entity, ApplicationContext (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which statement is true about the necessity for coding when using Spring Data REST?

Absolutely no coding is needed once dependencies are added. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What advantage does Spring Data REST provide in creating REST APIs?

It automatically generates CRUD features from existing JpaRepositories. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT an advanced feature mentioned with Spring Data JPA?

Implementation classes for entities. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What problem does Spring Data REST aim to solve?

Avoiding the redundancy of repeating code for different entities. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes how Spring Data REST operates?

It leverages existing JpaRepositories to create REST CRUD implementations. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a critical benefit of using Spring Data JPA?

It minimizes boilerplate code in data access layers. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the default page size returned by Spring Data REST?

20 (A) Signup and view all the answers

What annotation is used to specify a custom path for a repository in Spring Data REST?

@RepositoryRestResource (D) Signup and view all the answers

How can you navigate to the second page of data in Spring Data REST?

<a href="http://localhost:8080/employees?page=1">http://localhost:8080/employees?page=1</a> (D) Signup and view all the answers

What property defines the maximum size of pages in the application properties file?

spring.data.rest.max-page-size (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which endpoint query parameter would you use to sort data by first name in descending order?

<a href="http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=firstName,desc">http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=firstName,desc</a> (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is required to handle complex pluralized forms in Spring Data REST?

Specifying a plural name (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the URL structure to access the members path defined in a custom repository?

<a href="http://localhost:8080/members">http://localhost:8080/members</a> (B) Signup and view all the answers

What would be the correct URL to sort employees by last name and then by first name?

<a href="http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=lastName,firstName,asc">http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=lastName,firstName,asc</a> (C) Signup and view all the answers

Where would you set the default size of pages in Spring Data REST?

application.properties (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which pluralization would Spring Data REST NOT handle effectively?

Goose - Gooses (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary resource identified for the Employee Directory API?

Employees (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which HTTP method is NOT correctly matched with its corresponding CRUD action?

PUT - Read a list of entities (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which endpoint would you use to delete a specific employee?

/api/employees/{employeeId} (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of a REST anti-pattern according to the content?

/api/addEmployee (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which HTTP method is used to update an existing employee in the API?

PUT (D) Signup and view all the answers

In the context of the API requirements, what action is performed by the GET method?

Retrieve a single employee by ID (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT specified as a requirement for the Employee Directory API?

Get all employee details (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the correct endpoint for reading a list of employees?

/api/employees (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of using the HTTP DELETE method in the API?

To remove an existing employee (B) Signup and view all the answers

Why should actions not be included in API endpoints?

It is not a convention in REST design. (C) Signup and view all the answers

In a real-time project example, which endpoint is used for creating a new employee?

/api/employees (A) Signup and view all the answers

How would an API client retrieve a single employee's information?

GET /api/employees/{employeeId} (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which REST API example provided involves listing repositories?

GitHub (C) Signup and view all the answers

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Study Notes

Spring Data REST

Spring Data REST scans your project for JpaRepository.
It creates REST API endpoints based on entity type.
The endpoints are pluralized with a lowercase first character and an "s" added to the entity name, for example /employees.

Spring Data REST in Spring Boot

Spring Data REST eliminates boilerplate code for REST API endpoints.
With Spring Data REST, you don't have to code your REST API implementation.
It creates basic CRUD operations, like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE, for free.
Spring Data REST uses existing JpaRepository information.
The API is exposed on the server.

API Design Process

The API design requires understanding API needs.
The primary resource/entity ("employee" in the example) is identified.
Identify a suitable name (e.g., /api/employees).
HTTP methods (e.g. GET, PUT, POST, DELETE) and URLs are used for CRUD operations.

Adding Spring Data REST to a Project

Add the spring-boot-starter-data-rest dependency to your project's Maven pom.xml file.

Spring Data REST Features

Custom REST API end points: The @RepositoryRestResource annotation specifies a custom path, e.g., @RepositoryRestResource(path="members").
Pagination: By default, Spring Data REST returns 20 items per page. You can control the page size and change pages using query parameters, e.g., http://localhost:8080/employees?page=1.
Sorting: You can sort by entity properties. http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=lastName will sort ascending by lastName. http://localhost:8080/employees?sort=firstName,desc will sort descending by firstName.
Configuration: You can configure Spring Data REST using properties in your application.properties file:
- spring.data.rest.base-path defines the base path.
- spring.data.rest.default-page-size sets the default page size.
- spring.data.rest.max-page-size sets the maximum page size.

What is JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format that's used to transmit data between a server and a web application.
It acts as the common language for communication between your REST API and other applications.

Real-Time Project

Spring Boot can create a REST API that connects to a database.

REST Examples

PayPal Invoicing API: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/invoicing/
GitHub Repositories API: https://developer.github.com/v3/repos/#repositories
SalesForce REST API: https://sforce.co/2J40ALH

Anti-Patterns

Don't Include Actions in the Endpoint:
- Bad: /api/employeesList, /api/deleteEmployee, etc.
- Good: Use HTTP methods for actions.

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