Rest API exercise

python/rest-api/README.md

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+# Rest Api
+
+Implement a RESTful API for tracking IOUs.
+
+Four roommates have a habit of borrowing money from each other frequently, and have trouble remembering who owes whom, and how much.
+
+Your task is to implement a simple [RESTful API](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer) that receives [IOU](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOU)s as POST requests, and can deliver specified summary information via GET requests.
+
+### API Specification
+
+#### User object
+```json
+{
+  "name": "Adam",
+  "owes": {
+    "Bob": 12.0,
+    "Chuck": 4.0,
+    "Dan": 9.5
+  },
+  "owed_by": {
+    "Bob": 6.5,
+    "Dan": 2.75,
+  },
+  "balance": "<(total owed by other users) - (total owed to other users)>"
+}
+```
+
+#### Methods
+
+| Description | HTTP Method | URL | Payload Format | Response w/o Payload | Response w/ Payload |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| List of user information | GET | /users | `{"users":["Adam","Bob"]}` | `{"users":<List of all User objects>}` | `{"users":<List of User objects for <users> (sorted by name)}` |
+| Create user | POST | /add | `{"user":<name of new user (unique)>}` | N/A | `<User object for new user>` |
+| Create IOU | POST | /iou | `{"lender":<name of lender>,"borrower":<name of borrower>,"amount":5.25}` | N/A | `{"users":<updated User objects for <lender> and <borrower> (sorted by name)>}` |
+
+### Other Resources:
+- https://restfulapi.net/
+- Example RESTful APIs
+  - [GitHub](https://developer.github.com/v3/)
+  - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/dev/api/)
+## Exception messages
+
+Sometimes it is necessary to raise an exception. When you do this, you should include a meaningful error message to
+indicate what the source of the error is. This makes your code more readable and helps significantly with debugging. Not
+every exercise will require you to raise an exception, but for those that do, the tests will only pass if you include
+a message.
+
+To raise a message with an exception, just write it as an argument to the exception type. For example, instead of
+`raise Exception`, you should write:
+
+```python
+raise Exception("Meaningful message indicating the source of the error")
+```
+
+## Running the tests
+
+To run the tests, run the appropriate command below ([why they are different](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/1629#issue-161422224)):
+
+- Python 2.7: `py.test rest_api_test.py`
+- Python 3.4+: `pytest rest_api_test.py`
+
+Alternatively, you can tell Python to run the pytest module (allowing the same command to be used regardless of Python version):
+`python -m pytest rest_api_test.py`
+
+### Common `pytest` options
+
+- `-v` : enable verbose output
+- `-x` : stop running tests on first failure
+- `--ff` : run failures from previous test before running other test cases
+
+For other options, see `python -m pytest -h`
+
+## Submitting Exercises
+
+Note that, when trying to submit an exercise, make sure the solution is in the `$EXERCISM_WORKSPACE/python/rest-api` directory.
+
+You can find your Exercism workspace by running `exercism debug` and looking for the line that starts with `Workspace`.
+
+For more detailed information about running tests, code style and linting,
+please see [Running the Tests](http://exercism.io/tracks/python/tests).
+
+## Submitting Incomplete Solutions
+
+It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.