Overview

API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules that allow programs to interact with each other. One such rule allows you to get a piece of information (resource) when you link to a specific URL. Each URL is a 'request' and the data sent back to you is known as a 'response'. The Intelligent Service Management (ISM) Web Services allows you to encode your calls using REST (Representational State Transfer) API. REST is an architectural style that defines how applications communicate over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It is usually associated with exchanging JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents between a client and a server. To learn more about REST APIs, refer to REST API basics.

A request consists of:

• Endpoint
• Method
• Headers
• Data (body)

The following HTTP methods are used in REST APIs. Use:

• GET to retrieve a resource from a server.
• POST to create a new resource on a server.
• PUT to edit or update a resource on a server, which can be an object or file.
• DELETE to remove a resource from a server.