RESTful API Design Principles That Stand the Test of Time REST API design has accumulated a set of battle-tested conventions over two decades of production use. The fundamentals haven't changed: use nouns for resource URLs not verbs, use HTTP methods semantically (GET for reads, POST for creates, PUT/PATCH for updates, DELETE for deletion), return appropriate HTTP status codes, and design for the consumer. The APIs that are a pleasure to work with in 2026 follow these fundamentals rigorously and