HTTP and REST - 401-advanced-javascript-jv/seattle-javascript-401d30 GitHub Wiki

HTTP stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol", and is the general transfer method of normal Internet communication. Websites are served via HTTP, and so are many files. There is a secure version, HTTPS, which authenticates the connection in order to keep the data transferred secure.

An API is an "Application Programming Interface," which is what we use in an app or script in order to programmatically do things with HTTP methods. They are a combination of location and methods which allow us to program requests to send out, and ways to handle the data that comes back in the response.

REST stands for "Representational State Transfer", which is a framework which defines the way servers respond to requests from clients. It's a common style which many servers follow. One of the most important of those is that with a REST API does not remember previous requests. The server has no idea that any previous requests have happened, only those it's currently handling.