Noun-based resource naming in Rest API - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the correct RESTful URL for accessing a single user resource?

Given a REST API that manages users, which URL correctly follows noun-based resource naming conventions to access the user with ID 42?

A /user/get/42

B /getUser?id=42

C /users/42

D /users/getUser/42

💡 Hint

Focus on using plural nouns and hierarchical paths without verbs.

RESTful URLs use plural nouns to represent collections and IDs to access single resources. The correct format is /users/42.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Which URL correctly represents a collection of blog posts?

You want to design a REST API endpoint to retrieve all blog posts. Which URL follows noun-based resource naming best practices?

A /posts

B /getPosts

C /post/list

D /posts/getAll

💡 Hint

Use plural nouns without verbs or actions in the URL path.

RESTful URLs use plural nouns to represent collections. The correct URL is /posts.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in this RESTful URL design

Which option shows a RESTful URL that violates noun-based resource naming conventions by including a verb in the path?

A /orders/delete/123

B /orders/123

C /orders/123/items

D /orders/123/items/456

💡 Hint

RESTful URLs should avoid verbs in the path; HTTP methods indicate actions.

Option A includes the verb delete in the URL path, which is against noun-based resource naming. Actions should be represented by HTTP methods like DELETE.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

What is the best URL to access comments for a specific blog post?

You have blog posts and each post has comments. Which URL correctly uses noun-based resource naming to get comments for post with ID 10?

A /comments?postId=10

B /posts/10/comments

C /getCommentsForPost/10

D /posts/comments/10

💡 Hint

Use nested resources with plural nouns in hierarchical order.

Option B correctly nests the comments resource under the specific post resource using plural nouns.

❓ Predict Output

expert

How many items are in the resulting resource collection?

Assume a REST API endpoint /products returns a JSON array of products. The response is:

[{"id":1,"name":"Pen"},{"id":2,"name":"Notebook"},{"id":3,"name":"Eraser"}]

How many items does this collection contain?

A 0

B 1

C 2

D 3

💡 Hint

Count the number of objects inside the JSON array.

The JSON array contains three objects, so the collection has 3 items.