In REST, what is the primary purpose of the GET method?

• A. Retrieve current state of a resource
• B. Create a new resource
• C. Replace a resource completely
• D. Partially update a resource

Answer: (A)

GET is the read operation in REST. Its primary purpose is to fetch the current representation of a resource without changing anything on the server. This read-only nature makes GET safe and idempotent; calling it multiple times with the same parameters should not alter state and should yield the same result if the resource hasn’t changed. The response body contains the resource data, typically in JSON or XML. Other HTTP methods are used for writing or modifying data: POST creates, PUT replaces, and PATCH updates partially. So retrieving the current state of a resource is the correct description of GET.