Can someone clarify the exact RESTful definition for me? or What’s the simplest way to explain the RE

The RESTful definition is *supposed* to be strict (thanks, Fielding), but in practice? Most APIs are "REST-ish."

Key things:
- Stateless
- Cacheable
- Uniform interface (resources, HTTP verbs)

HATEOAS is the "true REST" hill some die-hards will die on, but honestly? If your API works and is intuitive, you’re fine.

Try the REST API Tutorial site—it breaks it down without the dogma.