REST Resources Single items and collections

There are two major types of resources to consider: collections and single items (also called documents):

Examples

• collection: /api/v1/cars
• document (single item): /api/v1/cars/123

You could also consider a more fine grained classification:

• document: akin to an object instance
  • singular noun
• collection: server-managed directory of resources. Clients MAY propose new resources to be added but it's up to the collection to choose to create a new resource or not. A collection resource chooses what it wants to contain and decides the URIs of each contained resource
  • plural noun
• store: client-managed resource repository. A store resource lets an API client put resource in, get them back out, and decide when to delete them. Each stored resource has an URI that was chosen by a client when it was initially put into the store
  • plural noun
• controller: a controller resource models a procedural concept. Controller resources are like executable functions or actions. Check out the section about Actions for more details verb or verb phrase