How to make basic REST API calls using a browser

Question

I am trying to get started with REST API calls by seeing how to format the API calls using a browser. Most examples I have found online use SDKs or just return all fields for a request.

For example, I am trying to use the Soundcloud API to view track information.

To start, I've made a simple request in the browser as follows http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/13158665.json?client_id=31a9f4a3314c219bd5c79393a8a569ec which returns a bunch of info about the track in JSON format

(e.g. {"kind":"track","id":13158665,"created_at":"2011/04/06 15:37:43 ...})

Is it possible to only to get returned the "created_at" value using the browser? I apologize if this question is basic, but I don't know what keywords to search online. Links to basic guides would be nice, although I would prefer to stay out of using a specific SDK for the time being.

Answer 1

Straight from the browser bar you can utilize REST endpoints that respond to a GET message. That is what you are doing when you hit that URI, you are sending an HTTP GET message to that server and it is sending back a JSON.

You are not always guaranteed a JSON, or anything when hitting a known REST endpoint. What each endpoint returns when hit with a GET is specific to how it was built. In that case, it is built to return a JSON, but some may return an HTML page. In my personal experience, most endpoints that utilize JSON returns expect you to process that object in a computer fashion and don't give you a lot of options to get a specific field of the JSON. Here is a good link on how to process JSON utilizing JavaScript.

You can utilize REST clients (such as the Advanced REST Client for Chrome) to craft HTTP POST and PUT if a specific REST endpoint has the functionality built in to receive data and do something with it. For example, a lot of wiki style REST endpoints will allow you to create a page with a specifically crafted HTTP POST with either specific header information, URI parameters or a JSON as part of it.