Why is the Web API important and given priority with respect to mobile applications for any product ?

Suma Das
3 min readOct 9, 2021

Web API is generally considered as a service that basically provides us information or data from the server. It is very important because of the following reasons:

  • It is used to provide an interface for websites and client applications to have access to data.
  • It can also be used to access data from the database and save data back to the database.
  • It supports different text formats such as XML, JSON, etc.
  • It uses low bandwidth such as XML or JSON data, etc., and is therefore considered good for devices that have limited bandwidth such as smartphones, etc.

What are Web API filters?

  • Authentication Filter: It handles authentication and authenticates HTTP requests. It also helps to authenticate user detail. It checks the identity of the user.
  • Authorization Filter: It handles authorization. It runs before controller action. This filter is used to check whether or not a user is authenticated. If the user is not authenticated, then it returns an HTTP status code 401 without invoking the action.
  • AuthorizeAttribute is a built-in authorization filter provided by Web API.
  • Action Filter: It is attributing that one can apply to controller action or entire controller. It is used to add extra logic before or after controller action executes. It is simply a way to add extra functionality to Web API services.
  • Exception Filter: It is used to handle exceptions that are unhandled in Web API. It is used whenever controller actions throw an unhandled exception that is not HttpResponseException. It will implement an “IExceptionFilter” interface.
  • Override Filter: It is used to exclude specific action methods or controllers from the global filter or controller level filter. It is simply used to modify the behavior of other filters for individual action methods.

What are the advantages of using Rest in Web API?
REST is very important and beneficial in Web API because of the following reasons:

  • It allows less data transfer between client and server.
  • It is easy to use and lightweight.
  • It provides more flexibility.
  • It also handles and controls various types of calls, returning various data formats.
  • It is considered best for using it in mobile apps because it makes less data transfer between client and server.
  • It uses simple HTTP calls for inter-machine communication rather than using more complex options like CORBA, COM , SOAP, or RPC.

Who can consume Web API?
Web API generally provides greater flexibility in terms of handling errors. Exception handling is a technique that is used to handle run-time errors in application code. One can use HttpResponseException, HttpError, Exception filters, register exception filters, Exception handlers to handle errors. Exception filter can be used to identify unhandled exceptions on actions or controllers, exception handlers can be used to identify any type of unhandled exception application-wide, and HttpResponseException can be used when there is the possibility of an exception.

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