What’s the exact difference between put & patch http methods ? in MuleSoft359

 
What’s the exact difference between put & patch http methods ? in MuleSoft359

In MuleSoft 4, both PUT and PATCH are HTTP methods used for updating resources through APIs. However, they have distinct purposes and ideal use cases:

PUT:

• Concept: Replaces the entire resource at the specified URI with the provided payload in the request message.

• Behavior:

• The client sends a PUT request with the complete new state of the resource in the message body.

• The server overwrites the existing resource at the target URI with the provided data, regardless of the current state.

• This is a full update, replacing all properties of the resource.

• Use Cases:

• Completely replacing an existing resource with new data.

• Creating a new resource if it doesn't exist at the target URI (some server implementations might support this behavior).

• Idempotency: PUT requests are generally considered idempotent. This means that sending the same PUT request multiple times with the same data should produce the same outcome (resource is updated with the provided data).

PATCH:

• Concept: Applies partial updates to a resource at the specified URI.

• Behavior:

• The client sends a PATCH request with the specific changes to be applied to the resource in the message body.

• The server applies the provided changes to the existing resource at the target URI.

• Only the specified properties in the request are updated, leaving the remaining properties unchanged.

• Use Cases:

• Updating specific properties of an existing resource.

• Performing partial modifications to a resource without requiring the entire new state.

• Idempotency: PATCH requests are generally considered not idempotent. Sending the same PATCH request multiple times might lead to unintended consequences as the server updates the resource based on its current state each time.

Choosing Between PUT and PATCH:

Here's a guideline to help you decide which method to use:

• Use PUT when you want to replace the entire resource with a complete new state.

• Use PATCH when you need to update specific properties of an existing resource.

Additional Considerations in MuleSoft 4:

• While designing your MuleSoft application, consider aligning your API behavior with the intended semantics of PUT and PATCH methods.

• You can leverage HTTP components within MuleSoft 4 to handle incoming PUT and PATCH requests and perform the necessary updates on your resources.

• DataWeave expressions can be used within your flows to manipulate the request payload and extract the specific changes for PATCH requests.

By understanding the differences between PUT and PATCH, you can implement appropriate update functionalities within your MuleSoft 4 integration applications, ensuring data consistency and adherence to best practices for RESTful APIs.