REST API Fundamentals: Understand and Test Web Services

Modern software applications rely on seamless communication to share data and power the web. Understanding how APIs and web services work is a fundamental skill for any aspiring developer, tester, or tech professional. In this text-based course, you will transition from a complete beginner to confidently reading, analyzing, and testing web APIs. You will learn how clients and servers interact using the HTTP protocol, how to parse common data formats, and how to execute API requests manually. What you'll learn: - Understand the fundamental architecture of web services and RESTful APIs - Analyze HTTP requests and responses, including methods, status codes, and headers - Read and structure data formats using both JSON and XML - Configure and execute API requests using Postman to test live endpoints - Apply modern authentication patterns, such as API keys and Bearer tokens, to secure requests - Implement best practices for API troubleshooting and error handling The course begins with foundational definitions of APIs and the HTTP protocol before moving into hands-on testing scenarios. You will progress through practical, written walkthroughs and code snippets that demonstrate how to interact with real-world endpoints using Postman. This course is designed for absolute beginners, QA testers, and junior developers who want to understand the backbone of modern web communication. No prior programming experience is required. Start reading today to unlock the power of web services and boost your technical toolkit.