What are REST API best practices for backend development?

Strong REST APIs are consistent, predictable, and secure. **Best practices:** - Use nouns for resources (`/users`, `/orders/{id}`) - Use correct HTTP methods (GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE) - Return proper status codes and structured errors - Support pagination, filtering, and sorting - Use versioning strategy when needed - Validate input and enforce authz on every request **Interview tip:** mention idempotency for PUT/DELETE and clear error contracts for clients.