Why is GET considered idempotent?
PICTURE THIS: HOW TO EXPLAIN IT
Simple meaning
Repeating the same GET must not change resource state
WHY — REST instead of guessing?
Why interviewers care about REST:
on REST.
the situation, the default choice, and one exception - that reads as experience.
Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.
End with when you use it and one common pitfall.
STEPS — What happens step by step?
Before you speak the answer, walk the interviewer through these steps:
- 1Repeating the same GET
must not change resource state
- 2you get the same
conceptual result aside from concurrent updates by others.
- 3That lets proxies retry
and cache GET.
- 4If your GET increments
a view counter as a side effect, say so explicitly
- 5many teams still accept
that as logging-like.
- 6Close
When you pick this over the alternative.
EXAMPLE — See it in action
Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:
Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.
Key takeaway
Repeating the same GET must not change resource state you get the same conceptual result aside from concurrent updates by others.