Chapters

28 Chapters | 1:45:06 |

01

The REST API Tutorial

3:07
02

HTTP Basics

2:10
03

REST: Resources and Representations

3:12
04

Transitions and Client State

2:11
05

Project Routing

5:22
06

POST: Creation, Location Header and 201

4:53
07

GET’ing Resources, and Content-Type

4:36
08

Updating the Location Header

1:47
09

GET /programmers: A collection of Programmers

3:32
10

Fixing the Content-Type on POST

2:37
11

Testing your API with PHPUnit

2:34
12

Behat for Testing

4:35
13

Handling Data in Tests

3:57
14

PUT: Editing Resources

4:13
15

Debugging Tests

1:12
16

PUT: Killing Duplicated Code

2:12
17

GET Representation != POST Representation

2:46
18

PUT Versus POST

5:07
19

Deleting Resources

2:29
20

PATCH: The Other Edit

4:53
21

Handling Errors

5:41
22

The application/problem+json Content-Type

4:26
23

Enforcing Consistency with ApiProblem

5:13
24

Error in Invalid JSON

4:28
25

ApiProblemException and Exception Handling

5:38
26

Handling 404 Errors

6:17
27

Exposing more Error Details

4:56
28

What’s Next

1:02

This course is archived!

This tutorial uses a deprecated micro-framework called Silex. The fundamentals of REST are still valid, but the code we use can't be used in a real application.

> APIs >

Course Overview

RESTful APIs in the Real World Course 1

Unearth the principles of RESTful APIs, from HTTP basics to proper status codes, and effectively test your API.

Buy Access

7502 students
EN Captions
EN Script
Certificate of Completion

Your Guides

Ryan Weaver

Leanna Pelham

About this course

This tutorial uses a deprecated micro-framework called Silex. The fundamentals of REST are still valid, but the code we use can't be used in a real application.

What PHP libraries does this tutorial use?

// composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "silex/silex": "~1.0", // v1.3.2
        "symfony/twig-bridge": "~2.1", // v2.7.3
        "symfony/security": "~2.4", // v2.7.3
        "doctrine/dbal": "^2.5.4", // v2.5.4
        "monolog/monolog": "~1.7.0", // 1.7.0
        "symfony/validator": "~2.4", // v2.7.3
        "symfony/expression-language": "~2.4" // v2.7.3
    },
    "require-dev": {
        "behat/mink": "~1.5", // v1.5.0
        "behat/mink-goutte-driver": "~1.0.9", // v1.0.9
        "behat/mink-selenium2-driver": "~1.1.1", // v1.1.1
        "behat/behat": "~2.5", // v2.5.5
        "behat/mink-extension": "~1.2.0", // v1.2.0
        "phpunit/phpunit": "~5.7.0", // 5.7.27
        "guzzle/guzzle": "~3.7" // v3.9.3
    }
}

Making RESTful APIs is hard, really hard. There are a lot of concepts to know - resources, representations, HTTP methods, status codes, etc.

And putting this all to life in a sane way in PHP is no small task. In this course, we'll learn all the most fundamental concepts around REST and learn about the "rules" and the advantages and disadvantages of each. And we'll of course build a real API to show it all off. Topics include:

HTTP basics
Resources and Representations
Resource state, client state
GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
Idemptotency and safe methods
Proper Status Codes, Location header and Content-Type
Testing your API
RFCs and where the "rules" come from
Advanced error and validation handling

If you want to know about Hypermedia, HATEOAS, Content-Type negotiation, pagination and more, these are not covered here, but are covered in Episode 2.

This tutorial uses Silex and we avoid talking about it as much as possible and instead focus on the core concepts of REST. Once you understand these, you can watch our Symfony REST series to learn how to leverage Symfony for your API.

Next courses in the APIs: Beginner: Learn REST Fundamentals section of the APIs Track!

RESTful APIs in the Real World Course 2

26 Videos | 2:18:26 | 0%

106 Comments

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Di-SiDE 6 years ago

Hi Ryan,
the source code is missing the ApiFeatureContext::thePropertyShouldContain method (that was not defined in the previous beta code).

41 | Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Di-SiDE 6 years ago

You're right! I've just updated the code download - it *does* contain a few more things than the original beta code download.

Thanks for pointing that out!

| Reply |

Thomas 6 years ago

Any news?

6 | Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Thomas 6 years ago

Most of the chapters are recorded and edited, so it should be very soon now! We're passed due on getting this out and we know it - so we're working our butts off this week on it to not delay further :).

Cheers!

3 | Reply |

Heiko Krebs weaverryan 6 years ago

Thanks!

| Reply |

Pablo María Martelletti weaverryan 6 years ago

Excellent so far! I've purchased and already seen it all, so great job! Waiting to see the rest of it. It would be great if you cover how to handle different formats for same url endpoints, just like FOSRestController do, and not to have the code duplicate in API Controllers and so on.

Cheers!

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Pablo María Martelletti 6 years ago

Yes, that's not an easy problem to solve! We'll definitely cover that, using an approach that you'll recognize from FOSRestController. There are still a lot of tough details to cover in episode 2!

Really happy you've enjoyed it!

1 | Reply |

Pierpaolo D. 6 years ago

Hi I see a link to Episode 3 but redirects to home page.

Quote:

If you want to know about Hypermedia, HATEOAS, Documenting your API,
Content-Type negotiation, pagination and more, these are not covered
here, but will be covered in Episode 2 and Episode 3.

3 | Reply |

MolloKhan SFCASTS Pierpaolo D. 6 years ago edited

Hey Pierpaolo D.

Dang, that's our bad, that epidose doesn't exit yet and I can't tell if it will exist any time soon. Sorry about it

| Reply |

Jasper 6 years ago

Hi, I'm excited for the second part of the RESTful API tutorial.

If possible I want to know which is the more efficient or preferred way of implementing the api and web interface.. separate controllers or only one but be able to handle different representations?

2 | Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Jasper 6 years ago

Hi Jasper!

Yea, that's quite controversial - even William and I disagree on this :). William (who I admit is more knowledgeable than I am) recommends using a single controller for both the HTML and JSON (or XML) representations. The potential problem with this approach might be if your web interface doesn't really look like your API. For example, you might have a /products API endpoint. But perhaps there's really no "products list" web interface page - perhaps instead there is /dashboard only, which shows products and users you're connected to (just imagining some example).

I would say, if you're comfortable with the idea of using one controller to return different representations, try that. But realize, that you may have some controllers that will only return JSON or will only return HTML, because there is only a JSON version of /products and an HTML version of /dashboard. And I think that's ok :). If you're overwhelmed by all of this, then don't feel bad using different controllers (but do your best to use services to avoid duplication).

Great question!

| Reply |

Guest 6 years ago

Any ETA? :) Too late for me to take advantage (I think i have a pretty good grasp now anyway) but I am looking forward to these anyway.

1 | Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Guest 6 years ago

Hey! No hard ETA yet - but we're aiming to start releasing chapters in the next couple of weeks (I'm working on stuff right now).

Cheers!

| Reply |

Yangzhi 1 year ago

hi,Ryan, Some times, i want get collection first,then sort by custom condition( not property), how to do that

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Yangzhi 1 year ago

Hey @Yangzhi!

Are you using API Platform? Or just creating a RESTful endpoint on your own? Let me know, and I'll see if I can help :). Doing what you want can be less efficient on large collections but, in general, yea, it should be possible and not a huge deal.

Cheers!

| Reply |

Yangzhi weaverryan 1 year ago

yes, i use api platform,i konw how sort by property,but if i want sort by custom condition,how to do that,thanks

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Yangzhi 1 year ago

Hey @Yangzhi!

Sorry for the slow reply :). Hmm. Ideally, you could translate this "custom condition" into a query. Then, you would create a custom API Platform filter - https://symfonycasts.com/screencast/api-platform-extending/entity-filter-logic - and modify the query. This is really the best way, because it works with pagination.

If you need to make the query first and then filter in PHP, probably the best option is to "decorate" the CollectionProvider that your collection endpoint uses in Api Platform 3. We do something a bit similar with a "state processor" - https://symfonycasts.com/screencast/api-platform-security/state-processor (API platform also has docs on this - they do it a slightly different way - but both are great https://api-platform.com/docs/core/state-providers/#hooking-into-the-built-in-state-provider)

The idea is that you would call the inner, decorated CollectionProvider and allow it to make the query like normal. You would then filter that in PHP and return the results. You could create an actual custom filter class if you want - kind of like https://symfonycasts.com/screencast/api-platform-extending/custom-resource-filter - so that the filter shows up in your documentation.

This will likely not play well with your pagination or "count", however. What I mean is: your API may say that it has 50 items, but really you can only find 35. That's because it gets the 50 count from the original query results (I believe)... but then you're removing some afterwards.

Good luck!

| Reply |

dianikol 5 years ago

Hello Ryan,
Is this course updated in order to meet symfony 4? Is it still relevant?

| Reply |

MolloKhan SFCASTS dianikol 5 years ago edited

Hey dianikol

This course was made on Symfony2 but its content is still relevant speaking about REST API's, but of course, you will have to adjust some blocks of code in order to work with Symfony4

Cheers!

| Reply |

dianikol MolloKhan 5 years ago edited

Thanks for the reply MolloKhan

| Reply |

Michal Szymczak 6 years ago

Can you tell us when approximately this screencast will be available? I'm looking forward to it!

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Michal Szymczak 6 years ago

Hey Michal!

We're aiming at Feb to start releasing this.

Cheers!

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS weaverryan 6 years ago

We didn't hit Feb, but I just updated the release date information (above in the summary) - I'm working hard on this - we'll post things as soon as we can :) Cheers!

1 | Reply |

Chris weaverryan 6 years ago

Hey Ryan - any chance of an update on the timings on this one? keen to see it.

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Chris 6 years ago

Hey Chris!

We just released the first chapters this morning and a full chapter list. Hope you enjoy it!

Cheers!

1 | Reply |

Jlsefksfesse 6 years ago

What's the current estimate for when this will be out?

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Jlsefksfesse 6 years ago

Hey Tor!

A few chapters should come out next week (good REST background, building up the basic endpoints, testing them, etc) with more of the meat coming a few weeks later. We'll email you with updates when the first chapters come out.

Cheers!

| Reply |

Jlsefksfesse weaverryan 6 years ago

Ok, thanks for letting me know, and for working on the tutorials. I'm looking very much forward to seeing them released!

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Miriam Tocino 6 years ago

Hey Ryan!

Just finished this episode, learned a lot about the idea behind REST, HTTP methods and status codes! :-)

However I still have some open questions. I am now working on a web service which should accept PUT requests from other domains (in this case sent from an iOS app). Up until now we are building the request using an AJAX call and JSONP, which turns out not to be true REST and has well-known security issues (so I am not happy at all with it).

I was just wondering if there is something related to this topic coming in episode 2 of these series, maybe related with Cross Domain Headers and so on... That would be very helpful!

I look forward to it and keep up the nice work!

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Miriam Tocino 6 years ago

Hi Miriam!

Hmm, I haven't gotten this far in the next tutorial, but we *do* have CORS on the menu for it, which indeed could be very helpful in your case. Instead of waiting for us, my advice would be to go ahead and check into this. If you happen to use Symfony, there is a bundle that helps with this: https://github.com/nelmio/N.... And if not, the bundle may still be instructive.

Cheers!

| Reply |

Miriam Tocino weaverryan 6 years ago

Hi Ryan! thanks for the quick reply :-) I will look definitely into it. And yeap, I do use Symfony for it! Cheers!

| Reply |

Thomas G. Bennett, Inc. 6 years ago

I had a little trouble initially setting up, but a few things that may help others, in case you are as n00b as me:

sql lite requires ownership for me so i did: $ sudo chgrp _www -R data

also, I'm on php 5.3 to match my work servers, so I had to make adjustment to line 70 from [] to array()

src/KnpU/CodeBattle/Controller/UserController.php
return $this->render('user\register.twig', array('errors' => $errors, 'user' => $user));

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Thomas G. Bennett, Inc. 6 years ago

Thanks buddy - I've made an issue (https://github.com/knpunive... to get rid of the share array syntax They're cute, but not necessary.

Cheers!

| Reply |

Davor B. 6 years ago

what does mean early access? I'm new member here

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Davor B. 6 years ago

Hey Davor!

It means that part of the tutorial is available, but part of it still needs to be released. Right now, if you look at the table of contents on the left, you'll see the last few chapters are grey - we're still working on those and will release them soon. So, you can start going through the tutorial now, and if you own it, we'll email you when the rest of the chapters come out.

Cheers!

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Wojtek 6 years ago

Will you also provide some information about rest api authorization?

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Wojtek 6 years ago

Hey Wojtek!

I'm not sure yet. We have an OAuth tutorial coming out very shortly (http://knpuniversity.com/sc..., which might address some of this. Which parts of authorization with a REST API would be helpful to you?

Thanks!

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Wojtek weaverryan 6 years ago

I'd like to see HTTP basic, HTTP digest and OAuth2.
Also are you planning to show how to implement HATEOAS (Hypermedia)?

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Wojtek 6 years ago

Definitely will be covering Hypermedia, that's where things get interesting :). I'll have at least some details in there on authentication as well - I understand very well why you're asking!

Thanks for the extra details!

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Guest 6 years ago

I am also extremely curious when this is going to be done. I could use this information ASAP :)

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Guest 6 years ago

This will be a Feb release! Sorry it can't be sooner - but if you click "Notify Me" - we'll ping you as soon as the first chapters are published.

Cheers!

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS weaverryan 6 years ago

FYI - I've just updated the release date information, so not by Feb obviously, but soon! Thanks!

| Reply |

Aliaksandr Harbunou 6 years ago

Where part with authorization via REST? I already did REST before this tutorial has been published, however authorization part still didn't chosen. WSSE, Token or your ideas?

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Aliaksandr Harbunou 6 years ago

Hey Aliaksandr Harbunou!

Obviously, it depends on what you need, but I'm a fan of using a token system: it's simple to implement and very understandable by your clients. That's what we're using in episode 2, modeled roughly off of GitHub. If you're curious, you can see the low-level setup here: https://github.com/knpunive....

Hope that helps!

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Lukas Lukac 6 years ago

Hi, sounds very intresting! Can't wait! Will be this REST API course connected with SF2 ?

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Lukas Lukac 6 years ago

Almost definitely :). Though I haven't decided if we should do something more generic first to introduce the concepts directly (like in Silex) and *then* something in Symfony2 using our extra tools. I'd love to have something useful for Sf2 and non-Sf2 devs.

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Lukas Lukac weaverryan 6 years ago

Hmmm i think it should be everything with Sf2 for Sf2 devs! :D Almost exactly one year before i started with Sf2 and i was like :O and it was the KNP course that had introduced me for the first time the world of frameworks and the beauty of this framework. Now i desperately crave for some great Sf2 REST course that will learn me a lot and will show practical tricks :) So once again, can't wait! Very excited :)

2 | Reply |

Guest 6 years ago

Just finished it up - really can't wait for the next course. Great job everyone! :)

If anyone wants more reading on this, Phil Sturgeon's "Build APIs You Won't Hate" (available via Leanpub) is a great resource to learn more. It covers topics that will be in the second course, but it's available now.

I'll be back to watch the second course when it comes out :D

| Reply |

weaverryan SFCASTS Guest 6 years ago

Thanks so much! I've also read about half of Phil's book (just been short on time) and very much enjoyed it as well.

We'll keep pushing forward with the 2nd episode - I'm excited too!

Cheers!

| Reply |

Evert 6 years ago

Should there also be a topic related to a client that can consume the api in the right way?

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