PUT is used for creating or replacing resources, POST is used for creating or appending data to resources, and PATCH is used for partially updating existing resources
Features of the PUT method
The PUT method has the following characteristics:
The request URI is used as the resource identifier
The request body contains the entire updated resource
It has idempotency - repeating the same request yields the same result
If the existing resource does not exist, a new one will be created
If an existing resource exists, it will be completely replaced with the contents of the body
// PUT example
PUT /Studeant/1
{
"id": 1,
"name": "Student",
"age": 18
}
Features of the POST method
The URI indicates the location of the resource that will handle the request
The request body contains data for creating the new resource
It does not have idempotency - repeating the same request may produce different results
Often used to create new resources
An empty request body may still be valid
// POST example
POST /users
{
"name": "Student",
"age": 21
}
Features of the PATCH method
The PATCH method applies partial modifications to entities of a resource.
The PATCH method executes the requested changes atomically.
It means that if the server can't satisfy all the requested changes,
it doesn't modify the target entity
// PATCH example
PATCH /Studeant/1
{
"id": 1,
"name": "Student",
"age": 18
}
|
Action |
PUT |
PATCH |
|
Request body |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Response with
body Content |
No |
Yes |
|
Safe |
No |
No |
|
IDEMPOTENT |
Yes |
No |
