Restful Naming Conventions

# Resource naming
GET    /users                    # Plural noun
GET    /users/1                  # Resource ID
GET    /users/1/order-items      # Nested (kebab-case)
POST   /users                    # Create
PUT    /users/1                  # Update

# Query parameter naming
GET    /users?sort_by=name       # snake_case
GET    /users?created_at__gte=2026-01-01  # Operators with __

# Response field naming
@app.route('/users/<int:id>')
def get_user(id):
    return jsonify({
        "user_id": id,            # snake_case
        "first_name": "Alice",    # snake_case
        "last_name": "Smith",     # snake_case
        "email_address": "alice@example.com",    # snake_case
        "account_status": "active",              # snake_case
        "created_at": "2026-06-28T00:00:00Z",    # snake_case
        "_links": {                # underscore prefix for metadata
            "self": f"/users/{id}",
            "order_items": f"/users/{id}/order-items"
        }
    })

# Bad naming examples
GET    /getUser                  # Verb, camelCase
GET    /User                     # Singular, PascalCase
GET    /users-list               # Not a noun
POST   /users/create             # Verb in URL

// Naming convention enforcement
function validateNamingConvention(schema) {
  const errors = [];

  for (const [key] of Object.entries(schema.properties)) {
    // Fields should be snake_case
    if (!/^[a-z][a-z0-9_]*$/.test(key)) {
      errors.push(`Field '${key}' should be snake_case`);
    }
  }

  return errors;
}

// Middleware for consistent response naming
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  const originalJson = res.json;
  res.json = function(data) {
    // Convert camelCase request body to snake_case
    if (req.body && typeof req.body === 'object') {
      req.body = camelToSnake(req.body);
    }
    next();
  };
});