What are rest apis in php?

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a system architecture that defines the set of methods to access the web services. The main goal of REST API is to create a system that can be used by different applications.

Table of Contents Show

Step1: Create MySQL Database Table
Step2: Create Database Connection
Step3: Implement Create Items
Step4: Implement Read Items
Step5: Implement Update Items
Step6: Implement Delete Items
Step7: Make SEO Friendly Request URLs of REST API
What REST API means?
Does PHP have REST API?
What are REST API examples?
What is REST API and its types?

The REST API are created with CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. The REST API is consumed by making HTTP request (GET, POST, PUT or DELETE) from the client side. The API is implemented in way to return response in JSON or XML or any other format.

So if you’re working on application to work on different devices like Desktop, mobile etc, then you can create REST API with required operations to be accessed by different application like web application and Mobile application.

Also, read:

Build Simple RESTful API with Laravel
Create Simple REST API with Slim Framework

In this tutorial you will learn how Create Simple RESTful API with PHP and MySQL. We will implement REST API with CRUD operations to create items, read items, update items and delete items.

We will cover this tutorial step by step with live example to create RESTFul API to perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations and consume REST API with HTTP request (GET, POST, PUT or DELETE) to play with items data.

So let’s start the coding. We will have following file structure for our REST API example.

rest-api
- config
  - Database.php
- Class
  - Items.php
- items
  - create.php
  - read.php
  - update.php
  - delete.php
  - .htaccess

Step1: Create MySQL Database Table

As we will create REST API with CRUD operations, so first we will create MySQL table items to store items details.

CREATE TABLE `items` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `name` varchar(256) NOT NULL,
  `description` text NOT NULL,
  `price` int(255) NOT NULL,
  `category_id` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `created` datetime NOT NULL,
  `modified` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

We will also insert few records to perform operations.

INSERT INTO `items` (`id`, `name`, `description`, `price`, `category_id`, `created`, `modified`) VALUES
(1, 'LG P880 4X HD', 'My first awesome phone!', 336, 3, '2014-06-01 01:12:26', '2014-05-31 17:42:26'),
(2, 'Google Nexus 4', 'The most awesome phone of 2013!', 299, 2, '2014-06-01 01:12:26', '2014-05-31 17:42:26'),
(3, 'Samsung Galaxy S4', 'How about no?', 600, 3, '2014-06-01 01:12:26', '2014-05-31 17:42:26'),
(6, 'Bench Shirt', 'The best shirt!', 29, 1, '2014-06-01 01:12:26', '2014-05-31 02:42:21'),
(7, 'Lenovo Laptop', 'My business partner.', 399, 2, '2014-06-01 01:13:45', '2014-05-31 02:43:39'),
(8, 'Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1', 'Good tablet.', 259, 2, '2014-06-01 01:14:13', '2014-05-31 02:44:08'),
(9, 'Spalding Watch', 'My sports watch.', 199, 1, '2014-06-01 01:18:36', '2014-05-31 02:48:31'),
(10, 'Sony Smart Watch', 'The coolest smart watch!', 300, 2, '2014-06-06 17:10:01', '2014-06-05 18:39:51'),
(11, 'Huawei Y300', 'For testing purposes.', 100, 2, '2014-06-06 17:11:04', '2014-06-05 18:40:54'),
(12, 'Abercrombie Lake Arnold Shirt', 'Perfect as gift!', 60, 1, '2014-06-06 17:12:21', '2014-06-05 18:42:11'),
(13, 'Abercrombie Allen Brook Shirt', 'Cool red shirt!', 70, 1, '2014-06-06 17:12:59', '2014-06-05 18:42:49'),
(26, 'Another product', 'Awesome product!', 555, 2, '2014-11-22 19:07:34', '2014-11-21 21:37:34'),
(28, 'Wallet', 'You can absolutely use this one!', 799, 6, '2014-12-04 21:12:03', '2014-12-03 23:42:03'),
(31, 'Amanda Waller Shirt', 'New awesome shirt!', 333, 1, '2014-12-13 00:52:54', '2014-12-12 03:22:54'),
(42, 'Nike Shoes for Men', 'Nike Shoes', 12999, 3, '2015-12-12 06:47:08', '2015-12-12 07:17:08'),
(48, 'Bristol Shoes', 'Awesome shoes.', 999, 5, '2016-01-08 06:36:37', '2016-01-08 07:06:37'),
(60, 'Rolex Watch', 'Luxury watch.', 25000, 1, '2016-01-11 15:46:02', '2016-01-11 16:16:02');

Step2: Create Database Connection

In directory config, we will create a class Database.php to make connection to MySQL database.

<?php
class Database{
	
	private $host  = 'localhost';
    private $user  = 'root';
    private $password   = "";
    private $database  = "phpzag_demo"; 
    
    public function getConnection(){		
		$conn = new mysqli($this->host, $this->user, $this->password, $this->database);
		if($conn->connect_error){
			die("Error failed to connect to MySQL: " . $conn->connect_error);
		} else {
			return $conn;
		}
    }
}
?>

Step3: Implement Create Items

In directory items, we will create a file create.php and implement items create functionality to insert new record into database. The API will accept HTTP POST values to create record. We will create object of class Items.php and call method create() to save record.

<?php
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
 
include_once '../config/Database.php';
include_once '../class/Items.php';
 
$database = new Database();
$db = $database->getConnection();
 
$items = new Items($db);
 
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));

if(!empty($data->name) && !empty($data->description) &&
!empty($data->price) && !empty($data->category_id) &&
!empty($data->created)){    

    $items->name = $data->name;
    $items->description = $data->description;
    $items->price = $data->price;
    $items->category_id = $data->category_id;	
    $items->created = date('Y-m-d H:i:s'); 
    
    if($items->create()){         
        http_response_code(201);         
        echo json_encode(array("message" => "Item was created."));
    } else{         
        http_response_code(503);        
        echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to create item."));
    }
}else{    
    http_response_code(400);    
    echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to create item. Data is incomplete."));
}
?>

In class Items.php, we will implement method create() to insert POST values to database table.

<?php
function create(){
		
	$stmt = $this->conn->prepare("
		INSERT INTO ".$this->itemsTable."(`name`, `description`, `price`, `category_id`, `created`)
		VALUES(?,?,?,?,?)");
	
	$this->name = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->name));
	$this->description = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->description));
	$this->price = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->price));
	$this->category_id = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->category_id));
	$this->created = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->created));
	
	
	$stmt->bind_param("ssiis", $this->name, $this->description, $this->price, $this->category_id, $this->created);
	
	if($stmt->execute()){
		return true;
	}
 
	return false;		 
}
?>

We will test the Create URL example from our REST API using following URL with POSTMAN App.

https://www.phpzag.com/demo/rest-api/items/create

We will POST the following JSON data values to create a new item record.

{
"name": "Usha Sewing Machine",
"description": "its best machine",
"price":"90000",
"category_id":"6",
"created": "2019-11-09 04:30:00"
}

Step4: Implement Read Items

In directory items, we will create PHP file read.php and implement items read functionality. We will handle items read functionality with HTTP GET method to get all items or specific item. We will create object of class Items.php and call method read() and return response data in JSON format.

<?php
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");

include_once '../config/Database.php';
include_once '../class/Items.php';

$database = new Database();
$db = $database->getConnection();
 
$items = new Items($db);

$items->id = (isset($_GET['id']) && $_GET['id']) ? $_GET['id'] : '0';

$result = $items->read();

if($result->num_rows > 0){    
    $itemRecords=array();
    $itemRecords["items"]=array(); 
	while ($item = $result->fetch_assoc()) { 	
        extract($item); 
        $itemDetails=array(
            "id" => $id,
            "name" => $name,
            "description" => $description,
			"price" => $price,
            "category_id" => $category_id,            
			"created" => $created,
            "modified" => $modified			
        ); 
       array_push($itemRecords["items"], $itemDetails);
    }    
    http_response_code(200);     
    echo json_encode($itemRecords);
}else{     
    http_response_code(404);     
    echo json_encode(
        array("message" => "No item found.")
    );
} 
?>

In class Items.php, we will implement method read() to read items from database.

<?php
function read(){	
	if($this->id) {
		$stmt = $this->conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM ".$this->itemsTable." WHERE id = ?");
		$stmt->bind_param("i", $this->id);					
	} else {
		$stmt = $this->conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM ".$this->itemsTable);		
	}		
	$stmt->execute();			
	$result = $stmt->get_result();		
	return $result;	
}
?>

We will test the Read URL example from our REST API using following URL with POSTMAN App.

https://www.phpzag.com/demo/rest-api/items/read

The above Read URL will return all item record in JSON data format. We need to pass specific item id to get that item record.

Step5: Implement Update Items

In directory items, we will create PHP file update.php and implement items update functionality with HTTP PUT method. We will create object of class Items.php and call method update() to update the items details.

<?php
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
 
include_once '../config/Database.php';
include_once '../class/Items.php';
 
$database = new Database();
$db = $database->getConnection();
 
$items = new Items($db);
 
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));

if(!empty($data->id) && !empty($data->name) && 
!empty($data->description) && !empty($data->price) && 
!empty($data->category_id)){ 
	
	$items->id = $data->id; 
	$items->name = $data->name;
    $items->description = $data->description;
    $items->price = $data->price;
    $items->category_id = $data->category_id;	
    $items->created = date('Y-m-d H:i:s'); 
	
	
	if($items->update()){     
		http_response_code(200);   
		echo json_encode(array("message" => "Item was updated."));
	}else{    
		http_response_code(503);     
		echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to update items."));
	}
	
} else {
	http_response_code(400);    
    echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to update items. Data is incomplete."));
}
?>

In class Items.php, we will implement method update() to update item detail to the database table.

<?php
function update(){
	 
	$stmt = $this->conn->prepare("
		UPDATE ".$this->itemsTable." 
		SET name= ?, description = ?, price = ?, category_id = ?, created = ?
		WHERE id = ?");
 
	$this->id = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->id));
	$this->name = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->name));
	$this->description = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->description));
	$this->price = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->price));
	$this->category_id = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->category_id));
	$this->created = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->created));
 
	$stmt->bind_param("ssiisi", $this->name, $this->description, $this->price, $this->category_id, $this->created, $this->id);
	
	if($stmt->execute()){
		return true;
	}
 
	return false;
}
?>

We will test the Update URL example from our REST API using following URL with POSTMAN App.

https://www.phpzag.com/demo/rest-api/items/update

We will PUT the following JSON data values with item id update existing item record. Here we are passing item id 61 to update the record.

{
"id": "61",
"name": "Usha Sewing Automatic Machine",
"description": "its best machine",
"price":"90000",
"category_id":"6",
"created": "2019-11-09 04:30:00"
}

Step6: Implement Delete Items

In directory items, we will create a PHP file delete.php to implement items delete functionality. We will create object of class Items.php and call method delete() to delete items.

<?php
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
 
include_once '../config/Database.php';
include_once '../class/Items.php';
 
$database = new Database();
$db = $database->getConnection();
 
$items = new Items($db);
 
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));

if(!empty($data->id)) {
	$items->id = $data->id;
	if($items->delete()){    
		http_response_code(200); 
		echo json_encode(array("message" => "Item was deleted."));
	} else {    
		http_response_code(503);   
		echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to delete item."));
	}
} else {
	http_response_code(400);    
    echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to delete items. Data is incomplete."));
}
?>

In class Items.php, we will implement method delete() to delete items.

<?php
function delete(){
		
	$stmt = $this->conn->prepare("
		DELETE FROM ".$this->itemsTable." 
		WHERE id = ?");
		
	$this->id = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->id));
 
	$stmt->bind_param("i", $this->id);
 
	if($stmt->execute()){
		return true;
	}
 
	return false;		 
}
?>

We will test the Delete URL example from our REST API using following URL with POSTMAN App.

https://www.phpzag.com/demo/rest-api/items/delete

We will PUT the following JSON data values with item id to delete item record. Here we are passing item id 61 to update the record.

{
"id": 61
}

Step7: Make SEO Friendly Request URLs of REST API

In directory items, we will create a HTACCESS file .htaccess to make SEO friendly URLs.

RewriteEngine On    # Turn on the rewriting engine
RewriteRule ^read$ read.php [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^read/([0-9_-]*)$ read.php?id=$1 [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^create$ create.php [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^update$ update.php [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^delete$ delete.php [NC,L]

What REST API means?

A REST API (also known as RESTful API) is an application programming interface (API or web API) that conforms to the constraints of REST architectural style and allows for interaction with RESTful web services. REST stands for representational state transfer and was created by computer scientist Roy Fielding.

Does PHP have REST API?

There are many great frameworks that can help you build REST APIs quickly. Laravel/Lumen and Symfony's API platform are the most often used examples in the PHP ecosystem. They provide great tools to process requests and generate JSON responses with the correct HTTP status codes.

What are REST API examples?

For example, a REST API would use a GET request to retrieve a record, a POST request to create one, a PUT request to update a record, and a DELETE request to delete one. All HTTP methods can be used in API calls. A well-designed REST API is similar to a website running in a web browser with built-in HTTP functionality.

What is REST API and its types?

REST (representational state transfer) is a very popular web API architecture. To be a REST API, an API must adhere to certain architectural constraints, or principles, including: Client-server architecture: the interface is separated from the backend and data storage.