PHP RESTful API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface)

A RESTful API is an architectural style that allows developers to interact with web services using standard HTTP methods. This tutorial guides you through the principles of creating a RESTful API using PHP.

1. What is a RESTful API?

A RESTful API adheres to the principles of REST architecture. It allows clients to access and manipulate resources using HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. The API operates on resources identified by URLs, and it typically returns data in JSON or XML format.

2. Setting Up Your PHP Environment

Before creating a RESTful API, ensure you have a PHP environment set up. You can use tools like XAMPP or MAMP for local development.

2.1 Create a Directory Structure

api/
|-- config.php
|-- api.php
|-- users.php

3. Creating the Configuration File

Create a config.php file for database connection and configuration.

<?php
// config.php
$host = "localhost";
$db_name = "your_database";
$username = "your_username";
$password = "your_password";

try {
    $conn = new PDO("mysql:host=$host;dbname=$db_name", $username, $password);
    $conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}
?>

4. Creating the API Endpoint

Create the main API file api.php to handle incoming requests.

<?php
// api.php
header("Content-Type: application/json");
include 'config.php';
$request_method = $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"];

switch ($request_method) {
    case 'GET':
        include 'users.php';
        getUsers();
        break;
    case 'POST':
        include 'users.php';
        createUser();
        break;
    case 'PUT':
        include 'users.php';
        updateUser();
        break;
    case 'DELETE':
        include 'users.php';
        deleteUser();
        break;
    default:
        header("HTTP/1.0 405 Method Not Allowed");
        break;
}
?>

5. Handling User Operations

Create the users.php file to define user operations.

<?php
// users.php
function getUsers() {
    global $conn;
    $stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users");
    $stmt->execute();
    $users = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
    echo json_encode($users);
}

function createUser() {
    global $conn;
    $data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
    $stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (:name, :email)");
    $stmt->bindParam(':name', $data['name']);
    $stmt->bindParam(':email', $data['email']);
    $stmt->execute();
    echo json_encode(["message" => "User created"]);
}

function updateUser() {
    global $conn;
    $data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
    $stmt = $conn->prepare("UPDATE users SET name = :name, email = :email WHERE id = :id");
    $stmt->bindParam(':name', $data['name']);
    $stmt->bindParam(':email', $data['email']);
    $stmt->bindParam(':id', $data['id']);
    $stmt->execute();
    echo json_encode(["message" => "User updated"]);
}

function deleteUser() {
    global $conn;
    $data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
    $stmt = $conn->prepare("DELETE FROM users WHERE id = :id");
    $stmt->bindParam(':id', $data['id']);
    $stmt->execute();
    echo json_encode(["message" => "User deleted"]);
}
?>

6. Testing Your API

You can test your API using tools like Postman or cURL. Here’s how to test the GET request:

GET http://localhost/api/api.php

For POST requests, you can send JSON data as follows:

POST http://localhost/api/api.php
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com"
}

7. Conclusion

This tutorial covered the basics of creating a RESTful API using PHP. By following the principles of REST and utilizing PHP's PDO for database interactions, you can build efficient and secure APIs. For more advanced features, consider implementing authentication, error handling, and versioning.

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