REST API Design Guide: Patterns for Production APIs Service: SEO-Optimized Blog Post | Price: $15 | Format: dev.to-ready | Category: Backend A well-designed REST API is the foundation of every great web application. It reduces integration time, prevents bugs, and scales with your team. This guide covers battle-tested patterns for building REST APIs that developers love to use. 1. Resource Naming Conventions Use Nouns, Not Verbs ✅ GET /users — List all users ✅ GET /users/:id — Get one user ✅ POST /users — Create a user ✅ PATCH /users/:id — Update a user ✅ DELETE /users/:id — Delete a user ❌ GET /getUsers ❌ POST /createUser ❌ POST /deleteUser Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Plural Nouns for Collections ✅ GET /users ✅ GET /users/:id/orders ✅ GET /users/:id/orders/:orderId ❌ GET /user — Singular is inconsistent ❌ GET /user/list — Verb in URL Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 2. Request Validation with Zod import { z } from " zod " ; // Define your schema once const createUserSchema = z .…