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This page is to describe the terms GET, POST, REQUEST, RESPONSE and API. These are terms that I’ve been exposed to during my time in the industry. I’ve used these terms to describe troubleshooting solutions and ideas. If you are unsure on these terms, do a quick search online to understand them a bit more. These terms are used to describe connections and activity between systems.

• GET
  • “What does this GET request involve”
  • “How do I validate the source of the GET method is operational / available”
    • “Is the GET method obtaining data from a database? If so how do I get access to this database or who can I talk to, who supports this database”
• POST
  • “What does this POST request involve”
  • “How do I confirm the destination for this POST is operational / available”
    • I.e. How do I know if this POST is successful or not and if the message has been delivered successfully
  • “Are there other vendors, third parties or users also dependant on this POST request”
    • “Who are the other users that need this POST request to be fulfilled. Give me the list of teams or users”
    • (This is a gotcha question. Since you will be focused on your system other people/users may also need this POST request, which you will ‘not’ know about. Be sure to read my 10% rule post, to further your troubleshooting skills)
• REQUEST
  • “What can I see in this REQUEST message”
    • “Is there an example somewhere you can show me”
      • (Some IT devs or engineers may use a tool call Postman to show you the request output)
  • “How or what invokes this REQUEST”
    • “Who looks after the interface or terminal that invokes this REQUEST”
  • “How do I know if this REQUEST is successful or not”
    • “Do you have a message pop up on the screen or a prompt on the command line acknowledging a successful or failed REQUEST”
• RESPONSE
  • “What is the expected output from this RESPONSE”
    • “Is there somewhere a list of error codes detailing all successful and failed RESPONSES”
  • “What can I expect if the intended RESPONSE does not confirm or meet the requirements of the GET / POST method. Who can assist on this”
• API
  • “What does this API do”
  • “Where does this API live”
    • (I.e. In the cloud, on premise server, and how do I access this API etc)
  • “Who supports this API?”
    • “Can I get the users or team that support this API”
  • “What troubleshooting can I apply on this API”
  • “Where is the code for this API. May I please get access to it to familiarise myself on what it can and can’t do”

Summary:

• The terms mentioned above are common terms used to describe connectivity and activity between systems
• Practice using these when describing the issue
  • Using terms like “it doesn’t work” or “it’s not connecting” doesn’t really cut it when talking to technical people
  • Be sure to practice how you build your questions
• Further to add, this post just provides examples on how to use the terms above
  • Depending on the role or job you are fulfilling extra terms or descriptions may be needed to define your troubleshooting or issue