What is web services RESTful?

RESTful web services are an architectural style for building networked applications. REST (Representational State Transfer) relies on a stateless, client-server, cacheable communications protocol -- typically HTTP. RESTful applications use HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE to perform operations on resources, which are identified by URLs. They are widely used for creating APIs that allow different software systems to communicate and exchange data over the internet in a standardized and interoperable manner. Common use cases include mobile app backends, integration of SaaS applications, and exposing data for public consumption.