200-901 Software Development and Design Practice Question
This 200-901 practice question tests your understanding of software development and design. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which THREE of the following are key characteristics of a RESTful API? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Resource-based URLs
RESTful APIs use resource-based URLs (e.g., /users/123) to uniquely identify resources, which aligns with the uniform interface constraint of REST. This design makes the API intuitive and self-descriptive, allowing clients to interact with resources directly via the URL structure.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Resource-based URLs
Why this is correct
Resources are identified by URIs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Stateless communication
Why this is correct
Each request from client to server must contain all necessary information.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Uses SOAP protocol
Why it's wrong here
SOAP is a separate protocol, not characteristic of REST.
✗
Relies on session cookies for state
Why it's wrong here
REST APIs should be stateless; cookies introduce state.
✓
Uses standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
Why this is correct
REST APIs leverage HTTP methods for CRUD operations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the distinction between REST and SOAP, and the trap here is that candidates may confuse REST's statelessness with the need for session cookies (stateful behavior) or incorrectly associate REST with SOAP due to both being web service technologies.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, RESTful APIs leverage the stateless constraint to improve scalability and reliability—each request from a client to the server must contain all information needed to understand and process the request, with no server-side session storage. In real-world scenarios, this means that load balancers can distribute requests to any server without worrying about session affinity, and caching intermediaries (like CDNs) can cache responses based solely on the URL and HTTP method, as defined in RFC 7231.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the 200-901 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Software Development and Design — This question tests Software Development and Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Resource-based URLs — RESTful APIs use resource-based URLs (e.g., /users/123) to uniquely identify resources, which aligns with the uniform interface constraint of REST. This design makes the API intuitive and self-descriptive, allowing clients to interact with resources directly via the URL structure.
What should I do if I get this 200-901 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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