Use Of Different HTTP Methods

Hi guys, hope you are all doing well!

Today, I'm stuck on something which I never thought about throughout my entire developer journey.

It's about HTTP methods. We've read about different types of HTTP methods like 𝐆𝐄𝐓, 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓, 𝐏𝐔𝐓, 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇, and we also know they each have different purposes.

But technically, if we want to update a document in the database, we can use any HTTP method! It depends entirely on the developer's logic implemented in that route. So, this causes confusion. Why do we even have these different methods? (We all have a sense that 𝐆𝐄𝐓 is used for fetching data from the server.) But what about 𝐏𝐔𝐓, 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓? What's their real purpose?

Finally, I understood: there is no strict technical limitation between these methods. The key difference lies in using them according to standard conventions. According to RESTful APIs, we must follow specific rules to clearly express our intent. For instance:

- 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓.
- 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐔𝐓.
- 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇.

Additionally, browsers optimize these requests according to their behavior. For example, POST or other update requests are never cached. Moreover, REST clients might get confused if you write update logic inside a POST request.

In short, it’s about meaning, not limitation.

Final Answer: Clearly communicate intent, follow standards, and avoid confusion.

Thank you for your time reading this 😊.
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