The HTTP verbs are the magic behind RESTful APIs. Let's use an example to understand how HTTP verbs works. We want to create an API to manage products; our first version might look like this:
| Endpoint | HTTP verb | Goal |
| http://myapp/api/createProduct | POST | To create a product |
| http://myapp/api/updateProduct/P1 | POST | To update an existing product |
| http://myapp/api/listProducts | GET | To retrieve the complete list of products |
| http://myapp/api/viewProductDetails/P1 | GET | To retrieve a single product |
| http://myapp/api/deleteProduct/P1 | POST | To delete a product |
From the preceding table, you can note that we need to remember five endpoints, and we are using two HTTP verbs: POST and GET. It might be understood that every time we want to retrieve information, a GET verb is used, and to perform operations that will modify the existing information in our system, a POST verb is used.
So, let's make our endpoints easy to remember using HTTP verbs. After applying a simple refactor, now our table might look as follows:
| Endpoint | HTTP verb | Goal |
| http://myapp/api/products |
GET POST |
To retrieve the full list of products. To create a new product. |
| http://myapp/api/products/P1 |
GET DELETE PUT |
To retrieve a single product. To delete an existing product. To modify an existing product. In this case, you must send the full document, not just the fields that have changed. |
Now, we are using the HTTP verbs, and we have reduced from five endpoints to just two. HTTP verbs are sent with every request to the server, so servers can use them to identify what operation a user wants to perform, sending the correct endpoint and verb.