A Representational State Transfer (REST) API is an architectural style, not a protocol, that provides a set of design principles for web services to communicate with each other. It uses standard HTTP methods to perform operations on resources, transferring a representation of the resource's state to the client in a flexible format like JSON.
REST APIs are defined by a set of architectural constraints that ensure they are scalable, simple, and reliable. These principles guide how components interact within a distributed system, leading to a more decoupled and maintainable architecture.
Designing a robust REST API involves adhering to established conventions that enhance usability and maintainability. Following these best practices ensures your API is intuitive for developers, secure, and scalable over time.
While both facilitate communication between services, REST and RPC follow fundamentally different architectural philosophies.
REST APIs are the backbone of modern web development, enabling different applications to communicate seamlessly. Their flexibility and scalability make them suitable for a wide range of applications, from simple mobile apps to complex enterprise systems.
Securing REST APIs is critical for protecting sensitive data. Implementing HTTPS encrypts all data in transit, preventing interception by malicious actors. Strong authentication and authorization mechanisms are also vital to ensure only verified users can access specific resources.
Key challenges include preventing common vulnerabilities through rigorous input validation and rate limiting. Proper error handling must be implemented to avoid leaking sensitive system information. Enforcing the principle of least privilege further limits potential damage by restricting access to only what is necessary.
Isn't REST just another name for a protocol like SOAP?
No, REST is an architectural style, not a protocol. It provides design constraints for creating scalable web services. Unlike SOAP's rigid specification, REST leverages existing HTTP methods and standards, offering greater flexibility in implementation.
Why is statelessness so important for REST APIs?
Statelessness ensures scalability and reliability. Since each request contains all necessary information, the server doesn't store client context. This simplifies server design and allows any server instance to handle any request, improving load balancing and fault tolerance.
Do REST APIs always have to use JSON for data exchange?
While JSON is the most popular format due to its readability and ease of parsing, REST is format-agnostic. APIs can also use XML, HTML, or plain text to transfer data, depending on the specific requirements of the application.
Learn about B2B contact base, including building an effective B2B contact base, & strategies for expanding your contact base.
Cold calling is a sales technique where reps contact potential customers who have had no prior interaction with their company or product.
Sales prospecting software automates the process of finding, contacting, and tracking potential customers to help sales teams build their pipeline.
AppExchange is Salesforce's cloud marketplace, offering a vast ecosystem of apps and expert services to extend Salesforce functionality.
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.
Learn about business continuity, including understanding key components, steps to ensure continuity, common challenges, & best practices.
Product recommendations are a marketing strategy that uses customer data to suggest relevant products, boosting sales and customer engagement.
Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.
A firewall is a digital barrier that protects a network by monitoring and controlling traffic, blocking unauthorized access and malicious content.
A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect vetted by marketing and sales, deemed ready for a direct sales pitch after showing intent to buy.
Serverless computing is a cloud model where the provider manages servers, so developers can focus on code without worrying about infrastructure.
Text message marketing is a strategy where businesses send promotional messages, offers, and updates to customers via SMS or MMS.
Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.
Outbound lead generation means proactively reaching out to potential customers who haven't yet expressed interest to introduce them to your brand.
Page views count the total number of times a page on your website is loaded. This metric is a key indicator of your site's overall traffic.
Accessibility testing is a software testing method that verifies an application is usable by people with disabilities, like vision or hearing loss.
Signaling is using credible actions to convey information about quality or intent to a less-informed party, effectively building trust.
The 80/20 rule, or Pareto Principle, posits that 80% of results come from just 20% of the effort. It's a key concept for prioritization.
Closed Won is a CRM status for a sales deal that has been successfully concluded, resulting in a signed contract and a new customer.
A version control system (VCS) tracks changes to files over time, allowing you to recall specific versions and collaborate without conflicts.
Total Addressable Market (TAM) represents the maximum revenue a company can earn by selling its product or service in a specific market.
SPIN selling is a sales technique using a sequence of questions—Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff—to uncover a buyer's needs.
Inside sales metrics are quantifiable measures used to track the performance, activities, and effectiveness of an internal sales team.
Sales Operations, or Sales Ops, streamlines sales processes, manages tools, and analyzes data to help sales teams sell more effectively.
Siloed describes the isolation of data, teams, or systems within a company, which blocks collaboration and creates operational bottlenecks.
Buying intent is the collection of online cues and behaviors that signal a prospect is actively researching and moving toward a purchase decision.
Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.
A cold email is an initial outreach sent to a potential customer with whom you've had no prior contact, aiming to introduce your business.
Kanban is a visual project management method that uses a board to visualize workflow, limit work-in-progress, and maximize team efficiency.
Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) for building websites and applications. It's known for its robust flexibility.
Custom Metadata Types store application configurations as metadata. This makes them easily deployable between different Salesforce environments.
Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.
Adobe Analytics is a leading web analytics solution for gaining real-time insights into user activity across websites and mobile applications.
Closed Lost is a sales term for a deal that didn't go through. The prospect decided not to buy, or the sales team disqualified them.
Total Audience Measurement (TAM) provides a holistic view of content consumption, tracking viewership across all platforms and devices.
MEDDICC is a sales qualification framework for complex B2B deals. It helps reps identify and validate key aspects of an opportunity to close more effectively.
ClickFunnels is a popular online tool that lets entrepreneurs easily build sales funnels to guide potential customers through the buying process.
A field sales representative, or outside sales rep, travels to meet prospects in person, selling products or services directly within their territory.
Marketing automation uses software to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media posting, and ad campaigns.
An inside sales rep sells products or services remotely from an office, using digital tools like phone and email to connect with customers.
Revenue Operations KPIs are quantifiable metrics that track the performance, efficiency, and health of a company's revenue-generating engine.
A marketing budget breakdown is a detailed plan that allocates your total marketing funds across various channels, campaigns, and activities.
Intent data tracks a user's online behavior—like searches and site visits—to identify signals that they are ready to make a purchase.
An AI sales script generator is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to create personalized sales scripts for any outreach scenario.
Lead management is the process of capturing, nurturing, and qualifying leads to guide them from initial interest to sales-ready.
A Value-Added Reseller (VAR) is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated solution.
Competitive intelligence (CI) is the ethical gathering and analysis of market data to inform strategic business decisions and gain an advantage.
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any form of content, like images, videos, or text, created and shared by users on online platforms.
Learn about B2B data platform, including key benefits of B2B data platforms, choosing the right B2B data platform, challenges in implementing B2B data platforms.
ABM orchestration aligns marketing and sales actions across channels to deliver seamless, personalized experiences to high-value accounts.
Freemium is a business model offering a product's basic features for free, while charging for advanced or supplemental features.
CPM, or Cost Per Mille, is a key advertising metric. It's the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand views or impressions of a single ad.
A sales playbook is a guide that outlines your sales process, best practices, and tools to help reps sell more efficiently and consistently.
Demographic segmentation divides a market into groups based on traits like age, gender, and income, allowing for more targeted marketing efforts.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on-demand.
Loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to reward repeat customers. They offer incentives like discounts or exclusive access to encourage retention.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid tactics to increase a website's visibility in search engine results.
Enrichment is the process of adding third-party data to your existing customer profiles to get a more complete picture of your leads.
A positioning statement is a concise description of your target market and how your product or service uniquely fills their needs.
A sales strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business will sell its products or services to achieve its revenue goals.
The buyer journey maps the path a potential customer takes, from first learning about a product to the final decision to buy.
Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication method allowing users to access multiple applications with one set of login credentials.
A performance plan is a formal document outlining an employee's goals, expectations, and metrics for success over a specific period.
Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based model where affiliates earn a commission for promoting another company’s products or services.
Customer Retention Cost (CRC) is the total amount a company spends to keep an existing customer over a certain period of time.
A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is an individual with profound knowledge and authority in a particular area, topic, or industry.
Call disposition is the process of labeling the outcome of a call. It helps sales teams track interactions and plan their next steps effectively.
Learn about B2B2C, including benefits of B2B2C model, key strategies for B2B2C success, & B2B2C vs. B2C vs. B2B: understanding the differences.
Generic keywords are broad search terms that lack specific details like brand or location. They attract a wide audience with less specific intent.
Sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers, or prospects, and initiating contact to convert them into paying customers.
Unit economics are the direct revenues and costs of a business calculated on a per-unit basis, revealing its fundamental profitability.
Firmographic data is information used to classify firms. It includes attributes like industry, employee count, location, and annual revenue.
Learn about buyer, including identifying your ideal buyer, understanding buyer's journey, & evaluating buyer decision processes.
Incident response is an organization's systematic approach to managing and mitigating the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack.
A payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes payments for businesses, acting as a secure link between the customer and the merchant.
ETL, short for Extract, Transform, Load, is a data integration process for moving raw data from various sources to a central data warehouse.
Channel sales is an indirect sales model where a company leverages third-party partners, such as resellers or affiliates, to sell its products.
Account mapping is comparing your customer list with a partner's to find common prospects and unlock new sales opportunities.
A use case is a detailed description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal, outlining the steps from start to finish.
Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its staff members, who share positive messages and content through their personal networks.
A dialer is software that automatically dials phone numbers for agents, boosting call efficiency and connecting them to live prospects faster.
A closed question is a type of query that elicits a simple, often one-word answer like 'yes' or 'no,' or a specific, factual response.
Nurture is the process of building relationships with potential customers, guiding them through the sales funnel with personalized communication.
Multi-touch attribution is a marketing analytics method that credits multiple touchpoints on the customer journey for a conversion.
CRM analytics is the process of analyzing data from your CRM to uncover insights that help you better understand and serve your customers.
Account-Based Analytics measures engagement and impact across target accounts, not just individual leads, to guide B2B sales and marketing efforts.
Serviceable Available Market (SAM) is the segment of the total market that your business can realistically serve within its geographical reach.
AI in sales uses smart technology to automate repetitive tasks, analyze customer data, and help sales reps close deals more efficiently.
Learn about B2B sales, including key strategies for B2B success, types of B2B sales models, & B2B vs. B2C sales: understanding the differences.
MOFU, or Middle of the Funnel, is the crucial evaluation stage in the buyer's journey where leads compare solutions to their known problem.
Learn about BAB formula, including implementing BAB in sales strategies, crafting an effective BAB pitch, & comparing BAB with other sales frameworks.
Sales metrics are quantifiable data points that track and measure a sales team's performance against specific goals and objectives.
Lead nurturing is the process of developing and reinforcing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.
Inbound sales attracts interested prospects who've engaged with your brand, letting sales reps connect with warm leads instead of cold outreach.
Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.
Data-driven marketing uses customer data to inform marketing decisions, optimize campaigns, and deliver personalized experiences to consumers.
Digital analytics is the analysis of data from digital channels to understand user behavior and optimize online experiences for business goals.
Customer relationship marketing is a strategy for building lasting connections with customers to foster long-term loyalty and engagement.
Shipping solutions are services or software that streamline the logistics of getting products to customers, from label printing to final delivery.