200-901 Understanding and Using APIs Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  To enable caching of the response

  Why it's wrong here

  The Authorization header carries credentials, such as a bearer token or Basic scheme, so the server can authenticate the caller; caching is controlled by Cache-Control and related headers. It is tempting because authenticated responses are often cached, but caching directives belong in separate headers, not the credential field.

• ✓

  To authenticate the client

  Why this is correct

  The Authorization header carries credentials, such as a Bearer token or Basic base64 pair, that the server validates to establish the caller's identity, satisfying the stem's requirement to authenticate the client on each REST request.

• ✗

  To specify the desired response format

  Why it's wrong here

  The Authorization header conveys credentials for authenticating the request; response format is negotiated through the Accept header. It is tempting because clients often set both together, yet Accept is the correct header when requesting JSON or XML from a REST API.

• ✗

  To specify the format of the request body

  Why it's wrong here

  The Authorization header carries credentials — tokens or Basic/Bearer schemes — authenticating the caller; it never declares body format. It tempts because headers do convey request metadata, and Content-Type is the header that actually specifies the body's media type, such as application/json.

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