A few weeks ago Adam Tuttle (@AdamTuttle) announced his first book was in the pipeline - (http://fusiongrokker.com/post/rest-web-apis-the-book).
I was very lucky enough to receive early iterations of the book as he was writing it and have held off until now to post a review, which, I will state now, is positively awesome.
Why I Love This Book
The latest version I had to proofread enjoy came in at 108 pages. This may fluctuate a little by an additional few pages but what you get in those pages is astounding.
Adam clearly has an incredible understanding of REST APIs and the time that has gone into researching and developing them over the years is clearly evident in this publication.
It is packed full of references to tools and resources that not only help you as a RESTful developer (or developing against RESTful APIs) but as a developer / data consumer in general.
The history of the REST API is covered in great detail, which I really enjoyed. It wasn’t and isn’t just a book about developing APIs - here’s a code sample, copy it out, run it and make sure the response you get matches that shown in the acommpanying screenshot, now move on to the next step - this book lays the foundations of crucial understanding every step of the way.
It’s not written in a cut and dry step by step process either. Adam’s writing style is fluid, conversational and friendly throughout the entire publication without losing any edge or authority.
Written in a clear, concise and friendly manner, this book offers detailed yet sensible advice on not only what REST APIs are and should be, but how to build your own AND make a good job of it in the process
Following His Story
Adam has been very public about the book and the writing process via his blog. The announcement to write it was made on 4th December 2014 with a clear release date noted in that blog post for 19th December 2014. He accomplished it with a lot of hard work and (a little) time to spare. You can track the progress from start to finish using the archive on his site.
Chapter Breakdown
The following is the list of chapters in my copy (which is more or less the final version):
- What is REST, Anyway?
- Some History, If You Want It
- Close to the Metal
- TL;DR: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
- Security
- Best Practices
- HATEOAS
- Concrete Examples with Taffy
I won’t go into detail about what is covered in each chapter as you will find that out for yourself as soon as you get your own copy. Which you’re going to do as soon as you’ve finished reading this. Thank you.
Why You Need This Book
If you have ever looked at, read docs for, developed against or developed your own REST API, this book is for you.
If you have no idea what a REST API is this book is for you.
If you are pretty sure you know what a REST API is and think you know all there is to know about them, this book is still for you.
It doesn’t matter what your experience or knowledge level is with REST APIs, this book needs to be on your desk close at hand.