POST
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
POST is the HTTP method for creating new things. When you submit a form, sign up, or upload a file — that's a POST. You're saying 'here's some data, please create something new with it.' Unlike GET, POST has a body with the data.
Real Talk
POST is an HTTP method used to submit data to a server to create a new resource or trigger a process. It's not idempotent — multiple identical POST requests typically create multiple resources. Data is sent in the request body.
Show Me The Code
POST /api/users
Content-Type: application/json
{ "name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com" }
When You'll Hear This
"POST to /api/users to create a new account." / "The signup form does a POST with the user data."
Related Terms
CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
CRUD is the four things you can do to data: Create it, Read it, Update it, Delete it. Literally every app ever made is just CRUD in a trenchcoat.
DELETE
DELETE removes rows from a table. It is the 'Delete' in CRUD. Like UPDATE, you MUST use a WHERE clause — without it, you delete everything in the table.
GET
GET is the HTTP method for reading data. You're just asking 'can I see that?' — no changes, no side effects.
PUT
PUT replaces an entire resource with new data. It's like taking a whole document, throwing it away, and replacing it with a new version.
REST (Representational State Transfer)
REST is a set of rules for how APIs should behave. Think of it as the etiquette guide for servers and clients talking to each other.