What is the primary purpose of RESTful APIs?

• A. To enforce session-based communication on the server
• B. To require XML for all data transfers
• C. To provide a standardized way to access resources over HTTP
• D. To operate only over WebSocket protocol

Answer: (C)

RESTful APIs provide a standardized way to access resources over HTTP. In REST, each resource has a URL, and clients use the common HTTP methods (such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE) to perform actions on those resources. The interaction is stateless, which means the server does not retain session information between requests, helping with scalability. Responses return a representation of the resource, typically in JSON, and the uniform interface across different services makes it easier for developers to interact with diverse APIs.

The other options don’t fit because REST does not require session-based communication (it’s designed to be stateless), does not mandate XML as the data format (JSON is commonly used, among others), and does not operate exclusively over WebSocket (REST uses HTTP/S).