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Module 1 – Introduction to API and HTTP

Module 2 – HTTP methods

Module 3 – HTTP status codes

Status codes overview
Status 200, 201 and 204
Status 400, 401, 403 and 404
Status 409, 422 and 429
Status 500 and server errors
Exercise: status codes

Module 4 – JSON in REST APIs

JSON format
json_encode in PHP
json_decode in PHP
JSON and UTF-8
JSON and dates
JSON and decimal numbers
Standard JSON response

Module 5 – REST API design

Designing endpoints
REST philosophy
Resources and URLs
API path antipatterns

Module 6 – PHP API project structure

api/index.php entry point
API router
API controllers
API models
Response helper
Error handler

Module 7 – CRUD operations

GET /users
GET /users/{id}
POST /users
PUT /users/{id}
DELETE /users/{id}

Module 8 – Data validation

Required field validation
Email validation
Number and date validation
Enum validation
Duplicate validation
Validation error responses
Validation in practice

Module 9 – JWT authentication

What is JWT
JWT header
JWT payload
JWT signature
Login and JWT token flow
JWT verification and expiry

Module 10 – Authorization and roles

Role-based authorization
Permission-based authorization
Authorization middleware
Admin role
User role
Guest role

Module 11 – Tokens and sessions

Access token
Refresh token
Logout and token blacklist
Refresh token in practice

Module 12 – API security

HTTPS and TLS
SQL injection in APIs
XSS in API context
Rate limiting
Brute force protection
CORS in REST APIs
API keys

Module 13 – API versioning

Versioning v1 and v2
Backward compatibility
Versioning strategy

Module 14 – Swagger and OpenAPI

OpenAPI and Swagger
Automatic Swagger documentation
Testing endpoints in Swagger

Module 15 – API testing

Testing with Postman
Testing with Bruno
Testing with Insomnia
Testing with curl
Test collections
Automated API tests

Module 16 – File uploads

Image upload
PDF upload
Word document upload
Multipart upload

Module 17 – Pagination

Pagination: page and limit
Pagination: sort and order
Pagination meta response
Pagination best practices

Module 18 – Filters

Basic filters
Advanced filters
Filters with query builder

Module 19 – Search

Search: q parameter
Field-based search
Fulltext search

Module 20 – API performance

Response caching
Gzip compression
ETag and conditional requests
Payload compression
Lazy loading relations

Module 21 – Logging

Error logging
Request logging
Logging IP and time
User-based logging
Log file structure

Module 22 – Third-party integrations

Integration: Stripe
Integration: PayPal
Integration: Google Maps
Integration: OpenAI
Integration: SMTP
Integration: SMS
Integration: ERP
Integration: SAP

Module 23 – Mobile API

Mobile API overview
Mobile login and token
Mobile refresh token
Mobile offline mode
Mobile API best practices

Module 24 – Deploy and production

Deploy on Apache
Deploy on Nginx
Deploy with HTTPS
Reverse proxy
Docker basics for API
Deploy on VPS

Module 25 – Final project

Final project: REST API

Module 26 – Bonus: OAuth2

OAuth2: Google and Microsoft

Module 27 – Bonus: Webhooks

Webhooks: Stripe, GitHub, Slack

Module 28 – Bonus: API Gateway

API Gateway: when and why

Module 29 – Bonus: HATEOAS

HATEOAS: is it needed

Module 30 – Bonus: Idempotency

Idempotent requests and retry

Module 31 – Bonus: Rate limit (Redis)

Rate limit with Redis

Module 32 – Bonus: Database versioning

Database and API versioning

Module 33 – Bonus: Monitoring

Monitoring: latency and errors

Module 1 – Introduction to API and HTTP Lesson

Client–server architecture

This lesson covers Client–server architecture as part of REST API Masterclass – From Zero to Professional PHP API. Focus is PHP 8 REST API implementation with JSON responses, correct HTTP status codes, and structure suitable for mobile and web clients.

Module «Introduction to API and HTTP» builds practical skills step by step from theory to router, controllers, JWT auth, and deployment. Each example uses employee/users domain as reference — aligned with the final employee management system project.

In depth

We explain Client–server architecture in depth: endpoint design, HTTP methods and status codes, JSON body and error formatting. In PHP use ResponseHelper and ErrorHandler classes for consistent responses. Test with curl and Postman before releasing changes to staging.

Key points

Understand the concept: Client–server architecture in REST API context.
Map HTTP method, status code, and JSON envelope to the business case.
Implement in PHP 8 with separate router, controller, and model layers.
Test endpoints with curl or Postman collections before production.
Document expected input, output, and errors in OpenAPI specification.
Security review: authentication, validation, and rate limiting where needed.
Measure performance and log requests for production maintenance.

Common mistake

Common mistakes with Client–server architecture: mixing GET/POST semantics, returning HTML instead of JSON, wrong status codes (e.g. 200 instead of 404), or exposing SQL/stack traces. In production always use HTTPS, input validation, and centralized error handling.

Summary

After this lesson you understand Client–server architecture and can apply it in your PHP REST API project. Practice on a local api/ folder with index.php router and document the endpoint in OpenAPI before the next lesson in module 1.

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Client–server architecture